Amazing Adventures
by D
Summary: The first hero of the Marvel Age returns!
1. I am the Fantastic Reborn!

Droom

A Marvelous Tale Told in the Mighty Marvel Manner!

I Am the Fantastic…Reborn!

Hell is not always hot. Despite what countless preachers have told their loyal congregations, Hell is not entirely a land blasted by flame and ruled over by pitchfork brandishing devils. Sometimes it is cold, sometimes crowded, and other times utterly devoid of any thing, living or dead.

In the deepest portion of Hell, those who committed an act of betrayal are sentenced to be tortured eternally. Among the twisted forms of such noted men like Judas Iscariot, Cassius, and Brutus, lay another man. His body was weak and pitiful. His emaciated form was chained to a huge chunk of ice, tucked away so far that even the most vigilant of demons gave him no notice.

That was something the man had planned on.

Gingerly lifting his head, the man's lips opened slightly in a grin. He winced in pain as the skin cracked open and bleed freely, but that was enough. Slowly twisting his arm, his hand slipped out of the iron that bound him to the ice. Moving as fast as he dared, he freed himself from the glacier thanks to a small sliver of rock and started to crawl away. He made it two footsteps before his blistered and bloody hands fell across a well-polished pair of boots.

The owner of the boots looked down at the man and smiled. The man felt no reassurance at the sight. "Well, Dr. Druid, I'm surprised. I really am; I mean, how many times have you tried to escape?" Damien Hellstorm, otherwise known as Lord and Absolute Ruler of Hell, chuckled at the sight of the man cowering before him.

Dr. Druid inched back. His weak skin tore away in chunks as he moved around on the blasted rock. "No, I repented! I don't belong here!" He babbled as he scrambled back.

Damien sighed as stepped past Druid. "Really Anthony, this isn't a bureaucracy. If someone is here, then they deserved it. And you, my dear Dr. Druid, deserve to be here more than anyone."

The man known formerly as Dr. Druid looked the ruler of Hell directly in the eye. "I want a second chance!"

"And you got it, as well as a third, a fourth, and a fifth. Each time you gave in to a new temptation. If I return you to life, and I won't, you would just end up here again. No Druid, I think I'll keep you right where I can see you. Maybe I'll just have some of the lower minions tear off your feet so we don't have to go through this again."

A fire, or something close to a fire, sparked off in Druid's eyes. "No, everyone else has returned, and so shall I!" He staggered to his feet. He grinned madly as Damien simply looked bored.

"Really? And how do you plan on going back?" He causally leaned on his trident.

"The direct way!" Druid laughed madly as he threw a fistful of rocks and dirt into Hellstorm's eyes. The ruler of Hell coughed and stumbled backwards as Druid rushed forward and snagged the trident. Laughing even louder, he raced towards the nearest wall and hurled the trident into the stone. The weapon struck and rang loudly as the stone and rock wavered and formed into a portal. Druid dived into the portal headfirst, his laughter echoing as the portal closed.

The trident struck the ground with a clang as Hellstorm wiped his eyes clear. With a gesture the weapon flew from the ground and into his hand. "Perfect" he muttered under his breath as he silenced the curious glances around him with one look. "I was beginning to think I would have to throw that fool out of here myself. Now, if only he can go without screwing things up."

In the land of the living, otherwise known as Earth, there was a quiet monastery tucked away in the Himalayas. To a casual observer, there was nothing amiss with the old building. Situated deep within the mountain range, anyone foolish enough to have came that far would have been discouraged by the miles long gap that separated the monastery from the main land. However, if anyone had been looking directly at the ancient looking building, they might have felt a strange chill go through them that would have been quickly credited to the cold.

Anthony Druid, formerly the living Dr. Druid, burst onto the snowy mountain with a wild scream. His body steamed as he floated inches off of the ground. "Even as a spirit, the Ancient One might be able to sense me. I must be quick," he thought as he floated over the chasm and towards the only lighted window.

Passing over the abyss, Druid floated his way up to the window and peered inside. He felt a strange tingle as his hands touched the old building, but he passed it off as one of the current resident's means of protection. "You should have been more thorough old man. Your weak spells might keep away the living, but you never planned on the dead, did you?" Druid thought to himself as he easily slipped inside.

The room was vast. Hundreds upon hundreds candles lit the room. Druid floated in and carefully looked around. True, he was dead and a ghost, but the quarry he was hunting could still handle both of those conditions. A small figure down at the other end of the room made him smile as he caught sight of his target.

Quietly floating behind the sitting figure, Druid raised both his spectral hands and began to speak a language that had long since vanished from the world of the living. Before he could even say the second syllable, the sitting figure raised one wrinkled hand and Druid was quickly bound, gagged, and kneeling before the wizened old man before he could blink.

"Anthony. Always a pleasure when a former pupil visits" the old man known only as the Ancient One spoke. With the slightest of gestures, he made the gag vanish from Druid's ghostly mouth.

"You rotten old man!" Druid raged as he struggled against his bonds. "Am I cursed?"

"Every man has the gift of free will Anthony. You were given a prestigious title and powers, yet you let them slip away from you."

"Lies!" Druid snarled. " I was selected first! You hand picked me to be your successor, then you tossed me aside for that foppish drunk!"

The Ancient One's face grew stern. "I selected you, yes, but you were never meant to hold the title of Sorcerer Supreme. I judged you worthy enough to hold the powers of Droom, yet your pride cost you those gifts."

"More lies!" Druid raged as he broke the spectral bonds and lunged for the Ancient One. "If I kill you, then you will never have a chance to ruin my life!"

The Ancient One, who did not earn that title by being foolish, made a simple gesture with one hand. Druid stopped mid-flight as a sphere formed around him. He floated in place as he pounded on the smooth insides with his ghostly hands. The Ancient One simply stood up and gently pushed the prison aside. "Again you disappoint me Anthony. You think I am not aware of what the future holds? That I am so uncaring as to willing damn a man to unspeakable torment? You were meant to be the protector of the Earth, Anthony, of this realm. The Sorcerer Supreme must guard a much larger sphere."

Druid heard what the old man was saying, but his thirst for vengeance blinded him. "And that must be me!" He screeched as he flailed inside the sphere like some kind of bubbling liquid

The Ancient One dropped the sphere. "And who are you to dictate the flow of destiny? Anthony, I am sorry about your fate. I truly am, but killing this mortal shell before my time would do nothing but harm the very fiber of existence."

Druid stopped his thrashing. "Are you going to send me back?" His tone was fearful, and the Ancient One picked up on that as he gently rolled the prison into another chamber and brought it to a stop in the center of the room.

"No Anthony, I would never do that. Sending you back would accomplish nothing." The old man spoke softly as he picked up a particularly dusty scroll and began to unroll it. Before he spoke the incantations printed on the brittle yellow paper, he looked at the ghostly form of Anthony Druid. "I will send you someplace Anthony, or to be more accurate, some when."

Druid looked confused as the Ancient One began to speak in a tongue that was ancient before Atlantis sunk beneath the waves. Druid could no longer feel anything, but that didn't stop a shiver from going down his spine. The sphere that bound him suddenly started to shrink. "Master, what are you doing?" Druid pleaded as the area began to decrease rapidly. "Please, don't do this!"

The Ancient One continued his spell as the sphere continued to shrink. As Druid screamed out for mercy, a blinding flash of light filled the room from some unseen source. When the light faded, all that was left standing was the Ancient One. He mumbled a small prayer as he left the chamber. "May he find redemption, for all of our sakes."

May 1st, 1961

"Deborah, time to get up!" came the familiar cry. Deborah "Debbie" Whitman stifled a groan as she forced herself up from the peaceful slumber. Fumbling for her glasses, she stared in bleary-eyed confusion at the early light peeking in through her closed curtains.

"Coming Daddy!" She shouted back as she dragged herself from the comfort of the warm bed. Staggering from the twisted sheets, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she put on her glasses. "Can't be late" She thought to herself as she rummaged through her closet. Finding a matching blouse and skirt, she quickly shucked off her nightgown. Just before she could put on underwear, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

Deborah sighed as she stared at herself. Granted, she was eighteen, but strictly going on looks alone she could have passed for a junior high student. "So what? It's not like there are any nice boys in this town anyway." She thought with disgust. "Only idiots and morons." Shaking those thoughts away, she put on her clothes and headed downstairs.

Breakfast was normal. Eating quickly, Deborah had barely digested her waffles and bacon before the school bus drove up. Gulping down a glass of orange juice, she hurriedly kissed her father on the check and snagged her backpack before dashing out the door. Making it onto the bus just before the door closed, she made her way to a window seat as the bus speed off towards school.

"Hey brainy!" came a familiar voice. "I saw you jogging there. What's your hurry, got a date with a test tube?" Deborah didn't even bother to turn around. The voice in question belonged to Susan Goodman. Everyone had his or her opposite, and Deborah's was sitting behind her. Tall, brunette, and a body like Marilyn Monroe; Susan was everything Deborah was not, which was a fact that she felt the need to comment on daily. After nearly four years though, Deborah had learned just to tough it out. Susan would get bored after a few minutes and leave her alone.

Everyone else did.

D

The rest of the day went by in a typical blur. Deborah took her usually spot in the front for most classes and answered when called on. By this point, she had learned not to attract any attention to herself. Lunchtime was the usual antics, but there was at least one respite from the drudgery of the public school system.

His name was Biff Rifkin. He was tall, built like a linebacker although he wasn't on the football team, had a face like Dean Martin, and currently didn't know she was alive. She had tried to get his attention, but guys like Biff didn't talk to girls like her. She had to settle for sneaking peaks at him eating lunch from across the room.

The ringing bell snapped her back to reality. Placing her unfinished meal with the rest of the trays, she shuffled back to class. As she made her way towards her next assignment, she felt a strange tightness in her throat. Her eyes stared to water as she found herself gasping for breath. "Uh-oh, looks like Ms. Wallflower is going to be sick!" she heard a sniggering voice coming from somewhere. She was dimly aware of someone ordering her to report to the nurse's station before the tiled floor came rushing up to greet her.

D

"I can not accept this."

Druid cursed long and hard as he saw where the Ancient One had sent him. His successor, his one shot at true redemption, was now currently incapacitated due to her lunch. Floating freely over her bed, he shook his head in exasperation. "You are to be my pass into the divine realm? A mere girl?"

Below him, the frail young woman mumbled as she tossed and turned on the cot. "Who are you?" She mumbled with her eyes close.

Druid floated down near her as his curiosity grew. "Hmm, if she can hear me, then maybe she does have some skill after all. Perhaps what I need is the proper conduit."

Floating away, he lifted himself high above the school and surrounding area. "Hmm, there is some mystic force here. Weak, but I think I can manage something. I'll have to find out where I am later though" he mentally filed off that question as he was drawn towards an area not far from the school grounds. Deep within a shaded grove, he found a small pile of rocks. Thrusting his spectral hand down through the closet one, he jumped back as an image of the Ancient One sprang up from the ground and loomed over him.

"Ah, Anthony. I was beginning to wonder when you would locate this crystal."

"What is this old man, more of your tricks?" Druid demanded.

"In a way, yes. Buried beneath these stones is a crystal. The crystal itself has only a faint amount of magical energy imbedded in it, however it possesses enough for your purpose. You said so yourself that you needed a proper conduit. The crystal can function as such until you and your student have reached the proper level."

Druid was not impressed. "And how exactly am I to do that? I can't touch anything, and I doubt that twig of a girl is going to be able to do the necessary digging."

The Ancient One was not perturbed at his former student's remarks. "Indeed, this is quite a problem Anthony. You were always a smart, if lazy, pupil, so you should be able to figure it out on your own." And with that the ghostly image of the Ancient One vanished.

Druid fumed as he floated back up into the sky. A plan was already forming in his mind, but the question would be, how could he go about doing it?

D

Druid would get his answer later. He had watched Deborah Whitman all day, through her boring class lectures and the torment she suffered at the hands of her peers, until she was finally free of the wretched school. Seeing her walking by herself towards the bus, he decided on his plan. As she walked out of the door, he hovered near her ear and whispered. "Ignore these fools. Go into the woods, and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams!"

Deborah felt strange. A buzzing filled her ears as she exited the school and made her way towards the bus. The buzzing increased the more she walked, making her light headed. Her vision swam as she felt herself walking away from the bus and towards the woods that neighbored the school. It was a fairly common shortcut that the students took, so she wasn't surprised when no one called after her.

The buzzing lessened the more she walked, but only when she took a certain direction. It was like she was being guided through the woods. She walked further into the interior of the woods until the buzzing stopped entirely. "How strange. I hope I'm not getting sick again" she thought, as the idea of being ill in a area where there was little foot traffic did not appeal to her. The buzzing started up again as she neared a small pile of rocks. The buzz increased until it was roaring in her head. She felt blood trickle out of her nose as she dropped her books. "What's happening to me?" she gasped as she fought for breath.

"Dig you stupid fool! The greatest power in the universe is at your command, and you're being felled by a nosebleed? I have battled hero and villain alike, and I never once gave up simply because of some foolish physical weakness!" Druid raged as Deborah fell to her knees near the stones. He caught himself as she slumped over. "Wait, what are you doing? She can't hear me, and she can barely perceive me. There must be a way that I can communicate to this girl."

Looking around, a smile crept onto his intangible visage. He floated away as he eyed the trees surrounding the prone girl. "Oh course, the trees!" Thinking back to his days studying under the Celtic druids after the loss of his original powers, the deceased Druid cackled as he floated towards the nearest tree. Chanting a language that would be quite unfamiliar to the now stirring Whitman, Druid's ghostly form settled into the closet tree and started to manipulate the ancient branches from within.

Deborah shifted on the grass. The buzzing and the pain suddenly stopped, but that hardly explained their cause. She was about to stand up when a tree branch suddenly started to move. "What on Earth?" she jumped back as the branch twisted around. There was no breeze, but even if there was it couldn't account for the branch's movements. It pointed towards the closet stone like a finger. "What going on here? Is this some kind of trick?" She had visions of her classmates leaping out from behind the trees and laughing at her. The branch reared back and thrust forward again, pointing at the stone.

"You want this rock?" She asked, and felt intently stupid for having done so. The branch jabbed again, so with a shrug she grabbed the rock and lifted it. The branch immediately snapped back to its original place as she struggled with the heavy weight. Tossing it aside, she was about to write the whole experience off as a daydream when she caught sight of something glistening in the Earth.

It seems that the stone had been placed over a small crystal, a locket, and a ring. "Wow, buried treasure!" Deborah exclaimed as she reached into the pit and took the items out. The locket and ring looked old, but they were secondary to the crystal. It was just a tiny sliver, but it felt warm to her touch and gave off a faint glow. Tucking all three items into her book bag, she rolled the stone back into its previous position and started back to her house.

Druid witnessed the girl finding the items. "Hmm, I didn't know there were other items buried under that rock. I could use them later as well. Perhaps I should wait before making my move. The Ancient One sent me back, but he couldn't have sent me back to my own past. What has been done can not be undone." Looking down at the town that stretched out around him, he floated away from Whitman and concentrated on the people walking the streets. "Judging from the clothes and cars, I am in the past. Perhaps I could warn myself not to travel to the east."

No sooner had he thought those words than the face of the Ancient One appeared over the sky above him. "No Anthony Druid, for if you even attempted such an act, even I could not save you from total damnation!"

Druid shrank in fear at the grim face. "Very well, I will leave the tampering of time to you. But answer me this, when am I if not in my past?"

"You are in a past Anthony. The role of Droom is meant to be a catalyst, the thing that ushers in a new age. This world is different than your own, in ways both large and small. Since your mortal form has been judged unworthy to wield the power, another has been selected to usher in this new age. Normally the teacher of Droom is someone such as myself, but since you wish to be redeemed Anthony, I have delegated this duty to you. Train that mortal girl into the hero that this world needs, and your sins shall be forgiven."

"But take heed Anthony. Should you try to subvert this honor, or in some way use the power of Droom for your own selfish ends then there will be no hope. You will be damned forever, and not even my skills will be enough to save you."

Druid floated silently over the town. "Very well. I will train this girl. Unlike you, I will actually help her to overcome the evil the exists in the shadows and in the hearts of mortals."

"Careful Anthony. Your power is greatly diminished, and it would not be wise to make idle threats."

Druid said nothing as the face faded away. "Very well. If Ms. Whitman is to be my replacement, then I must make her a suitable one."

D

Later that night

Deborah sighed as she sat down at her desk. She blew through her homework, but the whole time she was working she felt a strange tugging at her mind to take the things she found in the woods and look at them. After bathing and laying her clothes out for the next day, she still felt the urge. "This is crazy," she thought as she opened her closet and pulled her school bag out. "I probably just imagined the whole thing. Strange rocks don't glow, and trees certainly don't point at things." Rummaging through it, she gasped when she saw them.

The crystal **was** glowing, and quite brightly. It felt warm to her touch; so warm in fact that she dropped it when her fingers brushed against it. "What is it?"

Running to the bathroom, she snagged a towel and ran just as quick back to her room. Her father was downstairs watching the news, and she didn't feel like explaining to him what she was doing. As she bent down to pick up the crystal, the buzzing in her head stared up again.

Had Druid any sort of physical sense to his spectral being, he would have been tapping his toes in boredom. "I haven't all eternity to wait you silly strumpet." He fumed as he saw Deborah pick up the crystal and hold it close to her face. "Hmm. The Ancient One said that crystal could act as a conduit." Druid began to concentrate on the crystal. "Open your mind to me young Whitman, and see through my mind's eye."

Deborah was about ready to put the crystal down when the glowing suddenly increased. She tried to shield her eyes from the glare, even going so far as to drop the thing and step away from it. She tried to call out to her father, but she couldn't form the words. Slinking back from the light, she closed her eyes and groped for the door.

"Deborah Whitman"

She heard a strange voice call to her. The light was blinding at this point, but she was fairly certain she was the only one in the room. "Who's there?"

"A friend Ms. Whitman, simply a friend."

The voice had an accent, Boston maybe, but the light made it impossible to see. Judging from the direction, the speaker must have been standing right in front of her. "I don't have any friends".

"That much is true, but I can assure you I am the exception. What I am about to show you may seem shocking, but I can assure you, this is the truth."

Deborah summoned enough courage to try and squint. "What are you talking about?" She started to say, but she struck dumb as the light suddenly shot forward and pierced her eyes.

Before her, Deborah saw images. They were as clear as a motion picture, but she couldn't understand how she was seeing them. The images took definite shapes and she saw things that she didn't think were possible:

-Four people, in some sort of ship, becoming more than human

-A creature, born of the desert and man's own destructive genius

-A man, who was suddenly smaller than any living thing save for an ant

-A woman wielding a weapon of a god

-a spider who walked like a man

-A forgotten hero returning.

All of these images and more flooded her mind. She saw a council of men praying before the dark and something wet crawling amid candles. "What's going on?" she gasped.

"The future, or to be more precise, a future. You see Ms. Whitman; your world is entering a new age. The old order changeth, etc., and you have been chosen to be the harbinger of this new era."

"You're crazy!" Deborah shouted as the images started to speed up until they were all a blur.

"Once, but I can assure you I am now very sane. Ms. Whitman please, I beg you, try to understand that you are needed. This power that I offer is important. Without someone to wield it, those visions you saw may not come to pass."

"Well, then why can't you use it? You seem to know much more about this type of thing than me."

"Very astute. I did, in fact wield this power. I, however, proved to be unworthy. My punishment then is to find and bestow these powers on someone who is." Sensing her trust waning, Druid stepped through the wall and appeared before her. "I am asking you to undertake a great thing. There will be pain, and the journey will not be a simple one. Should you succeed, you will have helped make the world a better place. Will you accept?"

Deborah started at the man as he appeared before her. He was tall, balding, and had a piercing gaze. She didn't totally trust him, but what if he was right? Before she even knew what she was saying, she stepped forward and thrust her hand out. "Alright, I'll do it."

The figure, which she just noticed was transparent, smiled and stuck his hand out in return. "Excellent. Deborah Whitman, I transfer unto you the powers and title of Droom."

Druid surrounded Deborah's frail hand with his intangible one as he spoke. As the words left his ghostly mouth, he could feel the Ancient One's presence around him. The power, the old power that was once his and his alone, flooded his being. For the briefest of seconds, Anthony Druid almost felt alive as the power flowed through his being and into the unsuspecting form of Deborah Whitman.

Deborah felt like she had gripped a live wire. Searing heat went through her hand and into the rest of her as she saw the ghostly figure take on a more solid shape. She broke contact, however, as the heat suddenly turned to pain and settled in her chest. "God!" she gasped as she struggled to breathe. Falling to her knees, she saw the room spinning as she tried to straighten herself upright. "What did you do to me?" she choked out as the room's colors started to bleach out and invert.

"Steady child, steady" Druid warned as he watched her change. "The powers of Droom come with a price."

"Why" she begged, "didn't you tell me before?"

"Because someone must use them, and that someone is you. The pain is necessary I am afraid. It will prepare you for the upcoming battles. "

Deborah tried to scream as she saw her skin grow paler. She was already pale from having spent a lifetime indoors, but her arm was turning white as pure snow. As she writhed in agony on her carpet, her hair flipped down over her face. Her normally blond locks were darkening. They soon become an inky black. Her face burned as she crawled over to her dresser. Gripping the edge, she hauled herself up and nearly screamed at the sight before her.

The person in the mirror looked vaguely like her. The hair, once short, combed, and blond, was now long, tangled, and black. Her skin was alabaster. Her face, though, was the strangest thing. Her basic facial features were unchanged, but she did see a few alterations. Her nose, once small and almost upturned, was now longer and more pointed almost like a beak from some strange species of fowl. Her eyes had grown larger, but they now had a pronounced slant to them. The pupils took the attention away from that, however, as they had become larger and blacker than her hair. "My God, what did you do to me?"

Druid walked over to a nearby chair. He gave it an odd look before shaking his head and turning back to face her. "I underwent a similar change myself the first time. Do not fear, under my tutelage you will soon be able to mask your appearance."

Standing up, Deborah turned and stared at the ghost. "Mask? You made me a freak! Turn me back!" she shouted as she balled her fists and swung at Druid. He sighed as her fists easily passed through him.

"I am already dead my dear. Physical force rarely works on the deceased."

"Deborah, honey, what's going on in there?"

"Oh no, it's my father! Quick, change me back!" Deborah pleaded. Druid smirked and raised his hands.

"No need to. Watch and learn" Druid smiled as he uttered a smile phrase. The knocking stopped midway.

"What did you do?"

"Simple. I froze him." Seeing the look of horror on her face, Druid explained. "In time my dear, in time. That way we can have a better talk without the fear of interruptions. When we are finished I will remove the spell and your father will only be aware of a few seconds passing."

"I…guess that's ok."

"Alright, let's begin with the basics."

And so time ticked by. Druid cursed to himself that the Ancient One had not allotted him more power, but that was moot by this point. Deborah had proven herself to have some limited understanding of magic.

"Try again"

"Mystic binds that control and cage, let my face then rearrange!"

"That was terrible." Druid would have audibly sighed if he had physical lungs. "Ms. Whitman, magic is not unlike a higher form of science. Any fool can do it, but it takes a certain kind of fool to do it well."

"Well, then what kind of fool am I?"

"One that is quickly trying my patience." Druid looked funny to Deborah, like he was talking to someone else. But she couldn't see anyone in the room with them. "Wait, perhaps a fuller immersion is in order. I've already unlocked the door, as it were, so what do you say to a little test? Something where you can summon the powers that have already been unlocked, but require acts and feelings as opposed to spells and chants?"

Deborah looked at the ghost uneasily. "Alright, but what would I have to do?"

"Follow me outside. I will meet you in your backyard." Druid said as he floated up and away.

Deborah paused long enough to gaze at her reflection before continuing forward and opening her door. She stifled a shout of surprise as she saw her father standing before her door with a curious expression frozen on his face. Quietly slipping by him, she hurried down the steps, only stopping to slip on a pair of slippers before she went out the backdoor.

In front of her was Druid, floating above the grass with that same blasted smirk on his face. "Alright, I'm here. How what?"

Druid said nothing as he vanished. Before she could comment, the ground surrounding her feet suddenly burst into flame. "Holey Hannah!" she shouted as she leapt back from the flame. She noticed that the fire stayed away from the house as it grew and concentrated on keeping her within a very set perimeter.

Just as she trying to figure a way to escape, the ground began to rumble. The rumbling increased as a massive paw burst forth from the ground and landed in front of her. She numbly noted that the paw was connected to an equally large arm. The limb, which was quickly joined by another that was in equal proportion, ripped away large chunks of the Earth around her as the body that the two arms were connected to freed itself from the ground.

At first, Deborah thought the giant creature was some form of ape. The arms suggested as such, as did the head and torso. But as she saw lower body, she changed her mind. In lieu of a normal two legs, the back end of the creature was feline in nature. Its fur was golden in color and a long tail trailed behind it. The creature was roughly the same size as her house as it exited the hole.

"What on Earth is that?" she stammered as the creature stood up on its hind legs and gave out a strange roar.

"A gorlion. Now deal with it." Druid's voice echoed in her mind

Looking around, she could see the flame had enclosed them in a makeshift arena. The fire seemed to be sentient, as it quickly blocked off any avenues of escape. The gorlion roared again as it shook the last bit of dirt off of itself. The beast eyed her with black-rimmed eyes, as it seemed to be sizing her up. Whiter as a snack or as an enemy, she couldn't tell. Holding her hands up in what she hoped was a peaceful gesture, she was rewarded with the beast rearing back and slapping her.

She sailed through the air and landed with an impact several yards away. The fire had put itself out as she landed, but she saw the flame starting up again as she scrambled to her feet. "Alright, let's think this thing out" Deborah thought to herself as she made it back inside the fire area. "Druid said this was the type of exercise that would require feelings and acts. So what? Am I suppose to get angry so I can toss lighting bolts around like a second rate Blackstone?"

"Not quite, but your emotions can help or hinder you." Druid's tone made him sound like one of her science teachers. "Call upon them, let them flow. Use all of them, not just the negative ones."

"So I should be happy now?" Deborah shot back as the massive beast took another swipe at her. She barely avoided the crushing blow.

"Maybe. I know I wouldn't be in your position. Pick something from that brain of yours. Pick it, visualize it, and you will feel the power flowing through you. Unleash it, or don't. Tell me how to defeat this creature."

"I'm getting tired of this!" Deborah snarled as the monster roared. "Alright, this is a test, but of what, my powers or my character? If I kill this beast, will I fail?"

When she heard no answer, the pale girl decided to go with her own inner voice and no one else's. "This beast is just a beast. I won't destroy it until I know of its evil intent, but I can allow it to run free." Hearing the beast howl again, she noticed that the fire had singed the creature's tail. "Wait, maybe the gorlion isn't my enemy." She ignored the creature as she started to focus on the fire that caged them both. Drawing on her emotions, she felt the fire around her suddenly weaken. "It's incredible, it's like the flame is a part of me!" she wondered aloud as the flame slowly died out. She felt the fire as its power decreased. Inside she felt like she had just been crying for five hours straight. As the flames died down, she turned her attention to the gorlion.

The creature just stared at her. Deborah decided to take the initiative and duck under its massive paws and run under it. Once she had cleared it, she turned back around and faced the monster. She held her hands up and tried to recreate the same emotions she felt when she put out the fire.

Instead, she felt the creature's mind open up to her. Her vision swam as she felt her mind occupying the creature's and her own. The gorlion was mostly mindless, but the sheer size of the beast made Deborah feel like she had slipped into something that was too big for her. She feared about getting lost inside the cavernous mind when she heard the tell-tell voice again.

"Well done Ms. Whitman!" Druid said as she struggled to move. "It took me months to manipulate my astral self."

"Great, now how about helping me back into my old body?" Deborah shot back as she felt her connection with her physical form growing weaker by the second. In a flash, she found herself being sucked out of the gorlion's body and thrust back into her own.

"Your attempts to control the beast was a noble gesture, but you must take care in the future. Your astral self can possess bodies, but by doing so you are leaving your own form unguarded."

"I'll keep notes." She said dryly as she flexed her fingers and marveled at just how unreal the sensation felt to leave her body. "So did I pass?"

"You didn't die, and for someone in my company that is an accomplishment in unto itself."

"Yes, but did I pass your stupid test?" Deborah found herself losing what little patience she had left.

"This was merely an opportunity to see how well you used your abilities. The actual test will be how you confront the menaces that are to come."

Deborah felt anger swelling inside her as she heard the tone. "Look, I never asked for this! Now if you are going to continue this farce, at least tell me how to change back!"

"Easy, look down."

"What?" Deborah looked at her fingers and found her digits had regained their normal fleshly tone. "How?"

"Easy, you thought of yourself as how you used to be, and thus you became it. It's an easy trick to learn, but a hard one to master." Druid appeared before her. "I think these went rather well for a first lesson. We shall continue training later." Before Deborah could voice a complaint, Druid started to fade from sight. "I would suggest you return to bed before my spell wears off" were the last things she heard before the ghostly image faded entirely away.

Deborah stood still for a moment as she looked around the yard. Whatever damage had occurred had simply vanished. The grass showed no signs of being burned, and the ground was as undisturbed as when it was yesterday.

Silently making her way back to her room, she passed her father. He was still frozen in mid-knock. Once she had slipped past him and closed the door, everything unfroze. "Deborah?"

"Yes Daddy?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yes Daddy, I'm fine. I just tripped, that's all."

"Well be more quiet next time." With that, she heard him walk back down the hall towards his room.

"I can't believe it." She said as she flopped down on her bed. Glancing at the carpet, she picked up the crystal. As her fingers touched it, she noticed her skin had turned white again. " I don't believe it!"

"As I said, easy to learn and hard to master." Druid's voice came from her mirror.

"I can't go to school looking like this!" she struggled to keep her voice low. She doubted she could explain her new looks to her father.

"True. The other items you found, are they still in your possession?"

"Yes, I put them right here." Deborah rummaged through her backpack and retrieved the locket and ring.

"Excellent. Those will make for fine tools. Ms. Whitman, I want you to do as I say. First, put both those items near the crystal and step back."

Deborah did as he said. She heard a chanting coming from the mirror and watched in amazement as the crystal once again gave off a glow. The light increased as it did once before, but when it died down she was shocked to see the crystal had broken in two, with each piece affixed to both the locket and the ring.

"These will be the new methods of communication. The ring shall enable you to change back and forth, at least until you show mastery over your powers. The locket will act as a form of radio. Keep it, and I will be able to contact you silently. We wouldn't want your friends and family to think you're talking to yourself."

"So that's it? After all you've done to me, that's it?" Deborah slumped back on the bed. "I have to play hero and look like a freak?"

Druid sounded cross as he reappeared before her. "Ms. Whitman, I can assure you this arrangement hardly suits me either. But we have both been thrust together, so I suggest we try to cooperate with one another. There shall be tough times ahead, and you are going to have to master your abilities if the world is to survive."

" I don't want to be a hero!" She tried to sound defiant.

"And neither did I. Sometimes the role of protector is thrust upon those who are not the most obvious choices. You have the duty Ms. Whitman and the power to carry it out. The Earth must be safeguard."

"What about those visions? Will those heroes be any help?"

"Some of them. Others will fear you. Your job is to make sure they come about."

"And I do that by just existing?" Deborah sounded confused as she placed the ring on her finger. Just as Druid said, her appearance shifted back to the way she used to be. Putting the locket on her dresser, she leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes. "It all seems like a dream."

"Well it isn't. This world is slightly different than the one I came from, but you are going to face many of my old foes as you start out on my path. The other heroes shall come. Think of it as a pebble creating large ripples across the surface of a lake." Druid waited for a comment, but the gentle sounds of Deborah sleeping were the only things coming from the bed.

"This may not be Hell, but I am starting to wonder if I was really better off." Druid wondered as he floated out of the room and into the night sky. "She did show some skill, and her powers could be equal to mine if I can train her in time."

"That's the question, is it not Anthony?" the all too familiar voice of the Ancient One rang out in his mind.

"She seems to have accepted our offer, but I am not sure if I can keep her from the path that I once walked."

"You must Anthony, for both your sake and hers."

"It will be difficult, but with assuming I can match the teachings that made me what I was, she will be more than equal to the task."

"I see your pride is back in full force Anthony. Be wary of it."

"I intend to, but answer me this, when shall I know when she no longer needs me as a teacher?"

"That we shall find out together." The Ancient One's voice faded away, and Druid realized that he was alone, at least from the old man's direct gaze. Keeping his tongue still, the man that was once Anthony Druid, hero and villain, healer and killer, floated over the house of the young woman who was about to usher in a new sterling age for this particular Earth.

"Be ready Ms. Whitman," he thought as he viewed the quiet little town in the moonlight. "For here there be monsters."

The end

Amazing Answers

Well, here's the first issue of what will hopefully be a fairly interesting read. Now, I know all of this may seem strange, so allow me to explain and explore the backgrounds of the cast for you.

Dr. Druid:

Also known as Dr. Droom and Anthony Ludgate Druid, the deceased doctor was actually the very first hero that Marvel comics ever published. I know the current thinking is that Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961) was the first Marvel comic, but it was actually Amazing Adventures #1 (June 1961). Dr. Droom, or Dr. Druid as he was later renamed (due to a certain metal clad monarch having a similar name) lasted most of AA's run, until the series changed the title to Amazing Adult Fantasy with issue seven (and later Amazing Fantasy, in which a certain Web-head would make a memorable first appearance). Druid, as you have guessed by now, wasn't exactly setting sale records aflame. After the last issue before the name change, Druid vanished. He wouldn't reappear again until Weird Wonder Tales #19 (Dec. 1976) with both his name changed and his overall appearance altered. Even after his revival, things were fairly bleak for the good doctor. A guest shot with both the Hulk and Ghost Rider a year later did nothing, and it looked like the good doctor would fade into nothingness once again. After a good stint of doing nothing, Druid was shoehorned into the Avengers, a role some felt was undeserved due to his second (or third) string nature. When your most memorable action on the team is being mind controlled and cast into Limbo that does little to discredit that particular notion.

The character went through several redesigns and lead the Secret Defenders for a bit, before he was finally rewarded with his own series. A series that saw him go totally insane and murder quite a few people before being killed the Son of Satan himself, Damien Hellstorm. Not exactly the best exit for their first hero, is it?

Deborah Whitman may seem a bit more familiar to you. She was cast as a potential romantic interest for Peter Parker in Amazing Spider Man #196 (Sep. 1976). Her main gimmick was always being stood up by Pete for one reason or another (usually Spider-Man related). She was written out in 1983 and never spoken of again in the book or the Marvel Universe for that matter. The makers behind the 1990's **Spider-Man** animated series, however, decided to bring her back into the spotlight. She did fare better than some of Peter's other potential girlfriends, so I suppose she should be thankful.

Now, in case anyone is wondering, the Druid here is the one from the mainstream Marvel Universe. There will be repercussions for his actions, and prices to pay. This particular story was based on "I am the Fantastic Dr. Droom!" which was first printed in Amazing Adventures #1 (June 1961). The only credit I could find was Jack Kirby (pencils) and Steve Ditko (inks).

So, what can we except in this new series? Well, as with the old tales, there are going to be some giant monsters aplenty, as well as aliens, super villains (some you know, and others you might not), and maybe even a guest appearance for some of my other lovely ladies and other Marvel heroes to boot.

Join us next time when Deborah has her first real test in The World Below!

So ladies and gentlemen, what did you think?

And coming soon to a monitor near you:

Journey Into Mystery #6-The Vengeance of Loki!

Sensational Comics #5-Beatuy and the Beast!

Tales to Astonish #4-Betrayed by the Ants!


	2. The World Below

Droom

A Marvelous Tale Told in the Mighty Marvel Manner!

The World Below!

A heavy rain pelted the streets below as the people went about their business. High above the people and within the safe air-conditioned confines of a boardroom, several men were presently talking about their futures.

"I'm telling you, we have to go to the press with this!" The man closest to the window stammered as he wiped his sweaty brow.

"And what would we say Jenkins, "sorry we lost another cruise, but we'll get the next one right?"" A balding man snorted as he downed the contents of his glass in one gulp.

"Quiet the both of you." An older man sitting at the head of the table thundered. "Jenkins has a point Bill. If we try to ignore it like the other ones then we might as well as call it quits right now. You can't lose three cruise ships in a row without attracting some kind of attention."

"The other lines are already staying clear of those waters, why can't we?" Jenkins wailed.

"Because no one else goes there, and our cliental wants something different, that's why." Bill countered.

"Well, that's going to have to change. Bill, I want someone brought in on this." The older man steeled his gaze at the bald man as he talked. Bill silenced any complaints under the old man's stare. "I don't care how much you pay and who you pay it to, but get me someone. Someone who can tell us just what the blazes is happening to our ships!"

"Perhaps I can be of assistance." A mysterious voice came from the darkened corners of the room. An eerie figure stepped out into the light. The men recoiled at the black robed stranger who seemingly blended in with the dark.

"Who the devil are you?" Bill demanded as the old man reached out with his withered hand and pressed a button to summon security when the figure's voice made him stop.

"My name is Droom. I have the wisdom of the Lama, the skill of a Yogi, and the power of the Mystic. In the dark shadow world of the occult I dwell. Destroying the evil and protecting the innocent is my mission. Danger is my task and justice my goal."

All three men were taken aback as the figure known as Droom lifted the ebony hued hood back to revel the chalk white face of a young woman. "Ah, yes, how nice for you. Since you are, ah, so qualified, what can you do to help us with our problem?" Bill questioned.

"I can bring the missing ships and their crews back."

"That is what we need, but how much is this going to cost us?"

Droom betrayed no emotion at the question. "Perhaps more than you can afford, but I am the only hope those people have."

Jenkins regained his seat and snorted in disbelief. "You seem to know more than you are letting on. How do we know you're not the one responsible for our troubles?"

Droom fixed her gaze on the man, and Jenkins could have sworn his blood temperature dropped several degrees. "I know the S.S. Luxuria, as well as several other ships, have all vanished near one particular area of the Indian Ocean. So far all ships have been reported as lost, all save for the last one."

"That is correct" Bill answered. "Our shareholders are starting to panic, not to mention the lawsuits."

"Give me 48 hours, and I shall return the ship and its crew."

"You already said that, and for whatever reason, I am starting to think you could do it, but what about your payment? Are you going to the press with this?" The old man clutched his fingers.

"I desire no publicity. Make up whatever story you want when I return with the crew." Droom answered before she turned and walked out through the door.

One week earlier

"But I need to start to looking into those scholarship offers!" Deborah complained as the spectral form of Anthony Druid floated above her. To the casual observer, Deborah Whitman was having a spirited argument with the trees around her.

Druid merely placed his ghostly fingers on the bridge of his nose. "My dear, I am giving you more power than most mortals can comprehend. Powers and things you could never learn about any university."

"Look, school has let out, but I can't keep lying to my father."

"After this lesson, you won't have to." Druid smiled as he floated down. "Today I will teach you the ability to mesmerize the human mind."

Presently

Droom hummed quietly as she poured over sea charts. Her room had taken on the appearance of a disaster area. Since her training had begun, books, maps, and arcane items were scattered around and taking up nearly every inch.

"The ship was reported being near Sri Lanka before it became lost, but the last radio transmission reported no unusual activity." Druid read off the facts as he looked over Droom's shoulder.

"We know that, but what else? Several other boats, from sailboats to luxury yachts, have all vanished near this area." Droom countered as she grabbed a nearby reference book off of her bed.

"So, what does this mean?"

"Since you made me get involved, I doubt it is a natural phenomena. A sea monster?"

"There would be wreckage."

"True, alright then, someone or something is taking the ships whole, but for what reason and how?"

Druid smiled again. Deborah was growing to hate the man's ghostly visage. "I think you've grasped enough of the puzzle to try and solve it."

"How then?"

"Why not go there and see for yourself?"

The tone was matter-of-factly, and his face betrayed no sarcasm, but she felt like she had just been the victim of a rather bad joke. "I can fly? We haven't talked about anything like that yet."

Druid nodded his head in agreement. "True, but this is less flying and more projecting one's physical body through space." His thoughts drifted as Deborah began to plan. "This was my first real foray into battle with the dark forces. I know I could end all of this if I simply told her what to do, but for my sake I must let her find a solution to this problem that doesn't come from me."

He blinked when he saw Deborah staring up at him and he realized he was lost in thought. "You recall the spell of teleportation?"

"Yes" She began, but Druid held up his fingers.

"Then use it. I shall monitor your progress from here. Use your powers wisely my pupil." With that, Druid faded from view.

Grumbling in her mind, as she knew her erstwhile teacher could more than likely hear her complaints if spoken, Deborah started a chant and focused in on the image of the missing ship. Her volume increased as she like she was tugged by invisible hands away from the comfort of her bedroom and through the very fabric of time and space itself. The sensation lasted only seconds, but as she opened her eyes she found herself floating over the vast blue water of the Indian Ocean.

"Holy Hannah!" She exclaimed, and suddenly dropped from the sky and landed with a moderately sized splash in the cold salty water. Thrashing to the surface, and struggling to keep her head above the waves, she tried to force herself to calm down and remember some of the spells that she had learned. Practicing in the woods or the safety of the bedroom was one thing, but finding one's self suddenly suspended in midair over a foreign body of water is something else entirely different.

Gagging on the salt water, Deborah tried to float again. Her concentration, however, was broken when she spied a large shape coming up from the bottom of the sea. Panicking, and imagining a shark or some other deep-sea denizen making a snack out of her lower body, Deborah felt her panic grow as whatever the shape was increased its speed to match hers and take hold of her feet. Deborah tried to remember a spell that would come in handy, but as the strange thing absorbed her legs, she found herself almost hyperventilating as she was pulled under the water. She closed her eyes to protect them from the burning salt water. Right before her head vanished under the waves, a single thought came to mind. "It looks like a big balloon."

A

While Deborah was presently experiencing a sensation entirely new to her, she was not the first person to be abducted in such a fashion, not was she the second. Miles below the surface, and tucked away near a small undersea mountain range, sat a city. Not a ruin, not a remnant of some lost civilization, but a fully functional city.

Green skinned humanoids swam freely to and fro from the city, with a select few swimming up to greet the large bubble and its unwilling passenger. Deborah had managed to calm herself down enough not to panic at the sight of the ghastly large black eyes that stared unblinking at her, nor at the sight of the sharpened coral knifes and spears that were strapped to the strange creature's sides and belts. Seeing one of her escorts opening and closing its (for she could not be sure of the creature's proper gender) mouth in rapid succession, as well as moving the large fin that stretched around its head around in a pattern, she guessed that the creatures were communicating about her.

They floated ever downward, past the dazzling towers and past dozens of armed sentries until they entered a large and heavily guarded building. Droom gasped in amazement as she saw the Luxuria floating above the sea floor, and enveloped in a similar bubble. Her bubble/jail was tossed by her escorts to another pair and taken past the ship. Droom noted that the passengers were still alive as she spied a few brave souls looking over the railing. She tried to project an aurora of calm and power, but her fear gnawed at her.

She was floated through a series of tunnels. There was no light in them, leaving her floating alone in the darkness. A distant shaft of white attracted her, and she forced herself to focus on the light least she unleash a spell that popped the bubble.

As she neared the light, her captors suddenly pushed against the bubble and swam back. She drifted into the light, and then her bubble burst. Instead of finding herself crushed by the pressure or having her lungs burning for air, she gasped in shock as she breathed not salt water but air. Stale air, and foul smelling at that, but air all the same. "Well, the sentries weren't mistaken after all." She heard a strange voice speak. She blinked as the speaker approached her.

The creature towered over her, but its size was not the strange thing. Like the rest of the creatures she had seen, this one too was green. Its face reminded her of catfish she had seen in restaurants. Its posture was stooped shouldered. Dropping whiskers (she failed to recall the proper name, but their placement on the thing's face reminded her of a mustache) brushed against the red and blue armor and occasionally twitched.

"You may call me Leader" it spoke as he gestured towards her with a webbed hand. "What species are you?"

"I am a human" Droom forced herself not to stutter.

"Then you're a lair. You may look like a human, but your structure fails to match with our collected data. Are you Inhuman? Perhaps a spy sent from Atlantis?"

"Neither, I am a human, and you may address me as Droom."

The creature widened its eyes at her tone. "Such impertinence! Very well, if you are in fact a human, then why is your skin so different? We have catalogued every race and every possible mutation, and yours is unlike any other."

"I take pride in my individuality, but tell me, why have you taken the surface dwellers?"

The creature's lips flopped around in what could have passed for a smile. "Then you are a surface dweller at least. Have you come for negotiation or for vengeance?"

She considered her answer. "For the moment I am simply an interested observer, nothing more."

The creature chortled as it approached her. "Indeed. Tell me surface dweller, what have you observed that you find so interesting?"

Droom stepped back as the creature drew closer. Remembering her training, she looked the aquatic being directly in the black eyes and slowly said the words Druid had told her. "Open yourself to me. Your will is my will."

The creature blinked, but she could tell it was too late. It was already in her command. "We are friends, but act as you would act with anyone else. Tell me everything I want to know."

The creature nodded once and stepped away from her. "Our race has no name. Some believe us to be refugees from Atlantis, or perhaps former slaves from some other ancient culture. We have no records and no past, but we choose to call ourselves Aquaticans. Our race must conquer if we are to survive."

"Why?" The question burned at her mind, and she could feel herself slipping further and further into the creature's brain. Sweat poured down her face as she maintained the link.

The creature began to slur its words but it still continued to talk. "Because there are so many other kingdoms and monsters. We lack the power to rule the seas, but we can breathe air. Our enemies here cannot, thus we have the advantage. We have known of humanity for centuries, but we have been living like scavengers and collecting vessels from the surface, but only recently did our leaders order us to start taking larger ships."

"For what purpose?"

"Conquest. All of the previous ships were wrecks we found, their crews dead. We needed live specimens to study."

"And how would that help you?"

"We needed to know the level of surface dweller technology and how to best prepare against it. We were able to learn from the specimens we captured. We also understand the concept of politics and plan to use chaos to instigate confusion. The world's governments shall each blame each other for the attacks, and while they are distracted we shall conquer the oceans and land."

Droom nodded as the creature spoke. "You have helped me greatly, now return to your dwelling and forget my presence. I do not exist." She whispered as the creature mutely nodded and wondered off.

"So those other crews and passengers are dead." The realization hit her as she tried to formulate a plan. "Alright, I know they are vulnerable to mesmerism, but how can I control such a large population?" She thought to herself as she paced back and forth. "Druid said he couldn't help me on this, but I admit I wouldn't say no to his help now."

As she paced, she suddenly became aware of the smell of sulfur and brimstone entering the room. A hearty chuckle made her turn around as she came face to face with a strange man. He was naked to the waist, with a large upside down pentagram on his chest. A fiery red mane of hair spilled down his back as he stared her. "So, you are the first, eh?" his voice was accented, but she couldn't place where.

"Who are you?" She placed her hands up and began to silently chant a defensive spell. The man laughed at her gesture and she saw his sharpened canines.

"At the moment, an interested observer much like yourself. You are seeking a way to rescue those poor souls trapped on that ship, as well as trying to stop this group of undersea creatures from launching a full scale war upon the surface, correct?"

Droom was taken off-guard by the man's response, but she knew enough not to show it. "Yes, but how-"

"Oh, just consider me a little god in the machine." The man joked. "What I would suggest is simply casting a spell." He rattled off a series of words and commands as Droom listened. "Place everyone under your command and tell them to forget everything. After that you just send yourself home."

"All right" She said skeptically, "but why are you doing this?"

"Oh, I have my reasons my child. I ask no payment for this gift, but future meetings I am afraid my price shall become most expensive." The man's grin widened. "And now I shall say adieu. Please be a dear and don't tell Anthony about this little chat. I expect I shall be seeing him sooner than he thinks." The man vanished in a blink.

Droom herself blinked as well. "That was unexpected," she thought as she rubbed her temples. Hearing the approaching footsteps of the city's inhabitants echoing down the hallway, she decided to go with the stranger's plan. "But at this point why should a strange man appearing out of nowhere be a shock to me anymore?"

Remembering what the man said, Droom began the spell as the aquatic sentries entered the room. She suddenly grew dizzy, as the room seemed to melt around her. The green skinned creatures made a babbling noise and fled from the room as the dizziness increased. She closed her eyes as she saw the floor warping and shifting under her feet, but when she opened them again she found herself standing over the city.

Looking up, she saw that her head was merely inches from the water's surface. Turning her attention back to the city, she saw the alarmed creatures trying to mount an attack against her massive feet. The water around her didn't bother her as she spoke, her voice somehow broadcasting through the salty brine. "Attention mortals" She intoned as all movement ceased on the ocean floor. "This is Droom speaking. To the Aquaticans, I order this-forget your invasion of the surface world. It is little more than a destroyed and poisoned husk; utterly unfit your race's survival. I order you to release the surface's dweller's ship and then forget about it. From here until eternity you will never again attack any passing boats or ships that tread in your waters, for you never know which ones will forth a painful death for your entire species. "

Turning her attention to the rising bubble that contained the cruise ship, she issued more orders. "People of the Luxuria, hear me. Your ship suffered damage due to engine failure in a sudden storm. Any passengers or crewmen that were lost were claimed by the sea. You will forget the name of Droom." As the ship floated up towards the surface, Droom spoke the spell again. The water swirled before her eyes as she felt the back of her head twitch.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself on the deck, with the startled crew and passengers. She quickly performed the needed teleportation spell before anyone took notice of her, but before she vanished in a blink, she overheard the some of the crew chatting. "I never thought we would get our engines going again skipper!"

"Yes, lucky for us they did. I'd hate to think we'd be stuck out on this sea for much longer."

D

Droom materialized back in her own bedroom. The bed was almost like a shining beacon as she dragged herself to it and pitched forward onto it. "Resting already? I take it the venture was a success?" she heard the familiar tone of Druid above her. Grumbling into her pillow, she forced herself to roll over and look the ghost directly in the face.

"Yes, it was" She mumbled. "I managed to hypnotize a great many people and fish things, rescue the ship, and cloud my presence. I implanted a little suggestion in the ship's owners to forget me as soon as I left."

"Excellent. Deborah, I am very proud of you. I must deal with some pressing matters, but I will return to further your training." Druid vanished into the air. As his ghostly visage faded away, Deborah sat upright.

"Pressing matters? How can a ghost have pressing matters?"

D

Druid focused his energy and knocked once on the ornate door before him. "Enter" came the voice of Ancient One from the other side. Druid simply floated through the wood and stood before the old man.

"Well she passed my first mission with flying colors. Have I not taught her well?"

The Ancient One looked at his former pupil, but even the dead man could not read what thoughts the man possessed. "Indeed, but this one act hardly absolves you of your sins, now does it Anthony? Nor does it absolve you of your responsibility. There are many more challenges that await her, and she must choose her own path. Remember Anthony, your role in this is limited."

"Yes, yes, I understand that Master, but must I keep silent when I could simply offer an alternative to the solutions I found?"

"Perhaps, but I am not so foolish as to let you guide her unobserved Anthony. Remember, the role of Droom is to prepare the world for the coming age, nothing more. If I allowed you alter her fate, then would it be for her own good, or yours?"

Druid was silent, but the Ancient One could tell his remarks had struck a nerve. "I see your wisdom Master" Druid began as he slowly floated back towards the door. "I shall do as you instructed, and simply point Droom towards the path and nothing more."

The Ancient One said nothing in return as Druid faded from sight, but sighed once his ghostly visitor had left. "Even in death the man simply can not learn. Perhaps more players are needed on the board."

H

Down in Hell, things were more or less the same. Sinners were being tortured, demons howling in delight at the sight of said suffering, etc., but past the myriad kingdoms and borders, on a throne crafted from bones of angels sat Damien Hellstorm. Unlike his unholy brood, the ruler of Hell's many kingdoms was silent.

Sitting, with old scrolls and dark books spread out before him, Damien flexed his fingers. "So, she is already in my debt. The pieces are being moved." He smiled as images of the Earth appeared before him. "This is not the Earth that I once walked, but it will give me the chance I need." The images of Earth quickly changed into one massive image of Droom. "And she will be the conduit for it all. Anthony, I can not thank you enough."

Just as quickly as the images appeared, Damien banished from his eyes with a wave of hand. For even in Hell one must be wary of what might be eavesdropping. The phrase "for even the walls have ears" took on a more literal meaning in some areas of his kingdom. Damien smiled as he gathered up the books and maps. "So much to do, but I must be careful." Walking past a picture of himself back in his younger days, his smile grew darker. "Things are going to be different this time around."

The end

Amazing Answers

Well, another story down. This particular story was based on "The World Below" from Amazing Adventures #2 (July 1961). The only credits I could find cite Jack Kirby (pencils) and Dick Ayers (inks). Things are starting to move for Ms. Whitman, so be here next time when Droom faces…Zamu!

And now some mail.

From Darci

I went to Files Transformation Stories Cambot's Stories   
Amazing Adventures #1.htm and read your story. I thoroughly enjoyed  
it! There are only a few typos, which I'd be happy to send to you.  
Keep up the good work

Yeah, I admit I can never find all the errors in my stories. If you still want to edit my work, the position is still available.

And of course, no letter page would be complete with out a word (or three) from the ace number one fan of the Dungeon, Ms. Tiffani

Great story. Your dialogue is as good as ever. :) And I liked the  
pacing. Great job. :)  
Thanks for sharing.

And as I have said so many times before, thank you for reading.

And be sure to give some of my upcoming works a thumb through.

Tales to Astonish #4-Betrayed by the Ants! Ant-Man & the Wasp tackle Egghead. Can Ant-Man escape the man's fiendish deathtrap in time?

Sensational Comics #6-The Hulk VS the Metal Master! Also, be sure to tune in to read a very important announcement from the management concerning this title.

Journey Into Mystery #7-The Thunder Goddess and the Thug! The most offbeat Lady Thor story yet!


	3. Face to Face with Zamu!

Droom

A Marvelous Tale Told In the Mighty Marvel Manner!

Face to Face with…Zamu!

Inside a posh nightclub, a tall man stood on stage. The audience was utterly silent as he spoke. His was tall and had an almost sinister air about him. His tuxedo was clean and neat, with a high-necked cape billowing behind him thanks in part to the club's air conditioning. "And now ladies and gentlemen, for my finale." He spoke crisply and slowly pronounced over syllable. "I am sure you have many other men in my profession levitate objects or assistants, but tonight, every single one of you shall be a part of my act."

A confused murmur went through the crowd as the man held up his hands and closed his eyes. Spreading his slender fingers wide, he thrust them towards the ceiling as one by one, the patrons of the club slowly began to rise up and out of their chairs. Several panicked patrons protested and screamed. With a grin the man, called "Zamu" on the club's marquee, lowered his hands and brought the audience safely back to their seats. "And with that, dear audience, I bid all of you a pleasant evening."

A thunderous applause broke out as he quickly left the stage. A portly man in a cheap hat rushed forward and clasped Zamu's hand. "Great show kid, great show! I got us booked from every joint from Atlantic City to LA! Kid, you're going to be bigger than Houdini and Blackstone combined!" The man almost hyperventilated as Zamu carefully withdrew his hand.

"Thank you, Max, but right now I'm going to meditate in my dressing room. I do not wish to be disturbed."

"Sure kid, sure, just leave everything to good old Max." He gleefully rubbed his hands together as representatives from the major papers all tried to muscle their way past him. "Hold it boys, The Great Zamu doesn't grant interviews. Any questions you got can be answered by me, understand?"

Meanwhile, a small black and white set, Deborah Whitman, otherwise known as Droom, sat enraptured by the performance. "Amazing! I'd swear it was almost real."

"Hardly" The ghostly voice of Anthony Druid interrupted. "A true magician would never lower themselves in such a base way."

"Real or fake, you have to admit that was pretty neat." Deborah countered. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror overhanging the set, she sighed at the sight of the white skinned and ebon haired stranger staring back at her. "So, what is my next great task?"

Druid materialized before her. "Since you seem so enamored of that charlatan, why don't you prove his magic is fake?"

Deborah stood up and stared back at her ghostly teacher. "Alright, I'll do just that!" With a wave of her hand, she vanished. Druid shook his and walked outside. In the months since he first encountered her, things had been progressing. He wasn't sure in which direction he could say they were going though.

The months since Deborah graduated had been difficult. It had taken much convincing, but while she informed her father that she was moving out of town and moving to New York, they actually had been living in a small house several miles outside of town. Using her mystic skills, it had been her will alone that had shielded the structure from any praying eyes. The entire building had been turned into a giant exercise, one of which she was handling perfectly. "She shall be my greatest triumph."

"That's not saying much, is it?" a mocking voice rang out from outside.

Instantly he was alert and raising protective barriers. "Who goes there?" He tried to sound brave even though he recognized the speaker's voice.

"Really Anthony, I can see your return to the semi-living has done nothing for your manners." Damien Hellstorm laughed as he paced back and forth on the front lawn. "Aren't you going to invite an old friend in? I might catch my death of cold you know."

"You'll never take me back!" Druid swore as he focused his energies to form a more solid shape. "I have a second chance, and I will use it! The mantle of Droom will not be sullied again!"

"All this hostility is really unwarranted Anthony. Why, I merely ventured here to drop by and check up on you, nothing more. But if you're going to insult me with your paltry spells and tricks, then I'll just see myself home." Damien mockingly put his hand to his breast and bowed deeply before turning to leave. As a trio of hideous horses broke out of the ground and appeared before him drawing a fiery chariot, Damien looked over his shoulder at the ghostly mage. "I'll stop by again later. Would you prefer it be before or after your unwitting student fixes all of your old tasks?"

Anthony said nothing as the chariot took off and leaving nothing behind but scorched grass and the stinging scent of brimstone. Fading back into mist, the man once known as Dr. Druid drifted back into the interior of the house. "She must not fail! Those tasks that I once did must be carefully reproduced or else this world is doomed!" Fading from sight, the mind of Anthony Druid was still busy as the scent of brimstone and sulfur faded. "She must replicate everything. Only then will the wheels be put into motion, and then the Devil take her."

D

Deborah stepped out into the throng of people. A simple bit of hypnosis and a rearranging of a few atoms assured that any native looking at her would only see an average woman in a simple suit and trench coat. She supposed she could have gone for a more nondescript outfit, but the coat flapping in the cool air made her think of the spies she saw on the movie screen. Tucking her collar up, she walked past the unsuspecting people as she saw the name of Zamu in giant-sized letters on a marquee. Ducking in and wiping the minds of the staff, she walked past the large red doors and stood along the wall at the back of the theater as the magician performed.

The crowd was absolutely silent as Zamu performed various amazing feats of magic. She was somewhat impressed, as each trick was an enhanced version of an old standby. A woman was sawed into four parts, but each part was removed and handed to the audience before being reassembled. Objects were transplanted elsewhere in great displays of smoke and fire. Whole sections of the audience were lifted right out of their seats while strange visions danced upon the curtain before streaking off and dancing in the aisle. For the finale, Zamu doffed his fez and picked up a microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am truly honored at your presence, but there is one among you that I must call attention to."

Deborah started to panic as a spotlight flicked on traveled around the audience before passing her entirely and zooming in on a large box in the upper reaches of the theater. "To you, Mr. Rockefeller, I dedicate this next trick." The crowd was silent as Zamu bowed deeply before looking straight at the governor. "For my next miraculous task, I shall run for office!"

The crowd was split over this announcement. Several catcalls were made, while other people merely applauded. Zamu held up his hand for silence as he took a ring from a woman in the front row. "Yes, my plan, how the saying goes, is to throw my hat into the ring." With his fez in hand and the ring in the other, Zamu brought the crowd to a stunned silence as he easily passed the hat through the tiny ring with no effort or damaged to either items. After handing the piece of jewelry back to the owner, he took another bow and left to a standing ovation.

"Amazing, but something is amiss." Deborah thought as she willed herself to appear invisible to the crowd. From her studies, she knew that in order to do magic, something was needed. Things could be bartered or energy manipulated, but everything had to come from somewhere. So where was Zamu getting his supply? His tricks were too good, too lifelike, to be simple illusions.

When the crowd had left, she walked down the aisle and made her way onto the stage. "Odd, nothing's been added." There were no trapdoors or false backings. The stage appeared to be utterly normal, and that was what seemed the most odd. "He has to be doing something, but what?" Still invisible to the ushers and cleaning crew, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a yard of rope. Setting in down, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Uttering words that were used formerly in ancient halls in Tibet, the rope suddenly sprang to the life and stretched out until it reached the catwalks. Climbing up the rope proved to be slightly more challenging than making it living, but Deborah congratulated herself once she touched the planks that made up the walkway. Seeing a skylight, she carefully made her way over to it. Using a simple spell, she opened the glass pane and pulled herself up to the roof. "Amazing!"

Before her was a strange sight. Sticking up from the roof of the theater was dozens of tiny black cylinders. Bending down, she lightly ran over her fingers over the nearest one. She sensed no magic within the odd objects. Her attempts at lifting them proved futile, as the things were stuck fast. "What purpose do these things serve? Are they magnets?" Quietly leaving the way she came, she slid back down the rope and ducked behind the curtain. Seeing a throng of reporters still assembling near the dressing room of Zamu, she willed herself to be unnoticeable and waited.

Z

"Boys, please, you know the Great Zamu never grants interviews!" Max Schiffman pleaded with the newsmen.

"C'mon Max, let us in on it." One mild mannered reporter asked.

"Yeah, what party is he running on? And are we going to have call him Zamu?"

"He can tell you that after he's won the election, alright?" Max was starting to sweat. Out of all the clients he had ever had, none had ever caused him this much grief, but then none had ever gotten him so much money before, either. The crowd was getting too noisy for him, and a curious crowd was never good. "Maybe I ought to follow that hambone's lead and duck out of sight." He thought as he gripped the doorknob and quickly opened it. He dashed inside as flashbulbs went off, but during the momentary confusion, no one saw the pale figure expertly weave her way through the crowd and follow him before the door was closed.

Inside the dressing room was a large curtain. Max, and to an extent Droom, were both catching their breaths and totally unaware of what was transpiring behind the barrier before them. Zamu stood before what looked like an ornate mirror, except that he cast no reflection in the polished surface.

If either of his unwanted guests were to peak behind the red velvet, they might have been in for a shock as Zamu doffed his fez and then proceeded pulled off his face. Under the flesh-like mask, the creature's head was nearly perfect spherical and totally bright red with a small tuff of black hair on the top. Three slits were eyes and a mouth would correspond on a human opened and closed in unison as the alien reached out and touched a hidden button on the mirror's side. The visage of another similar creature appeared in it and a harsh mechanical voice spoke.

"Attention Agent. Fleet is now in position near the planet designated by natives as Saturn. We await further orders regarding your progress."

Zamu clicked the mirror off and spoke into a small disk he removed from the frame. "All is going according to plan. I have made my intentions known and expect total victory. As leader of this planet, the plan of conquest shall continue unabated."

No sooner had he put the disk back in its place then a confused Max shattered his solitude. "Huh? Zamu baby, what' going on? This some kind of rehearsal?"

"Meddling Earthling!" Zamu hissed as he withdrew a large pistol. "My delta rays shall ensure you tell no one of what you've seen." As Max sputtered apologies and staggered back, Droom stepped forward and revealed herself.

With a sudden flash of light, both men blinked as a pale skinned stranger stood before them. Zamu turned with what might have been annoyance on his face and stared at the new intrusion. "What in all the cosmos are you?"

"This world's protector, and you shall not harm it." She flexed her fingers as Zamu turned his full attention to her.

"Bah, more annoyances!" Zamu fired his weapon at a nearby chair. Both Max and Droom gasped when the chair simply faded away. "You see what awesome power I wield? And this is nothing but a low powered weapon. With my technology at my disposal, you puny creatures were convinced my feats were nothing short of magic!"

"Actually, not everyone was totally convinced." Droom offered. Zamu sniggered and trained his gun on her.

"Yes, I suppose there had to be someone on this miserable mud ball who was bright enough to come to the conclusion. Which of my devices did you discover?"

"Actually, I knew your tricks had to be science, because I could tell there was no magic in any of them."

"Magic? Ha! And our intelligence reports said that such beliefs had died out. Earthling, you have given me much amusement, but now I shall send you oblivion." Zamu tightened his flesh glove over the trigger when he noticed that Droom hadn't flinched. "Are you whimpering? Or merely in shock?"

After several seconds, Droom answered. Her voice was even and her tone neutral. "Neither, but I am curious how you expect to harm me with such a pathetic toy."

"Toy?" Zamu grew enraged as he squeezed the trigger. Much to his shock, the only thing that exited the barrel was a cascade of bubbles. "But, that's not possible!"

"With magic, anything is." Droom answered as she raised her hands. Within the span of a second, the gun turned into putty.

"No, stay back!" Zamu panicked as he stumbled backwards. Blindly groping around the table, he screamed when the tabletop suddenly split in two and ensnared his hands. "How are you doing this?"

"As I said before, magic." Droom stepped between the panicking agent and the panicking alien. "Look into my eyes." She commanded. "You will is my own. What were you doing?'

"I was supposed to spearhead an invasion of this planet. My people are warriors, conquerors, but so far we have yet to leave our own system. I was sent first. My goal was to become elected to a position of power on this world, and from there I would do all within my power to dismantle your defenses. My people's fleet is stationed near the planet you call Saturn and are awaiting orders." Zamu's tone was drowsy as he talked. Droom nodded as she released him from her spell.

"Then I shall return you to your people, where you will tell them that Earth has its own defenders." With a furrowed brow and a few gestures, Droom made the captive alien vanish. Turning back to the frightened form of Max, Droom regarded him coolly.

"What, what did you do?" Max whimpered as he wiped his sweat-covered face with a handkerchief.

"I sent him away." Placing her fingers at his temples, she whispered a small spell into her ear. "Rest, and forget this night. When you awake, you will remember nothing of this, nor of the danger that was faced here."

M

Max blinked. Around him was the deserted dressing room of Zamu and a note taped to the wall. "Max," it read, "I regret my decision to run for office. I am hereby retiring from show business. Goodbye forever, Zamu."

Max crumpled up the note and threw it in the trashcan. "Aw nuts. The first big playing client I had in a while and he goes and bails on me. I swear Maxie old boy, it just doesn't pay to give a guy a break in this town."

D

Deborah reappeared before the tiny house. For some reason, the house seemed odd, like she was at the wrong house. "Wait, why am I here?" She felt her mind grow fuzzy as she walked up the steps. Fog surrounded her, as the world seemed to spin out of control.

Druid looked down at the still form of Deborah Whitman, as she lay suspended before him. "I'm sorry to have to do this, but I can not allow anything to interrupt my mission." With a few muttered words and chants, Deborah's form grew slack. A sudden knocking at the door brought forth muttered curses from the ghostly figure. Leaving Deborah in her state, Druid appeared before his expected distraction. "What is it?"

"Merely checking up again." Damien smiled as he teased putting his foot on the first step. "It's just that I am amazed that that someone, who has been given so many opportunities, is so willing to throw them all away."

A sneer formed on Druid's intangible lips. "What opportunity? All I am expected to be is an errand boy for the Powers that Be, and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of teaching this whelp, and I'm sick of always being in the shadows."

"Well put, but I hope you'll pardon me if don't take you at your word."

"All I ask is for you to leave myself and this girl alone for the next few months. Her actions will start in motion the next great age, but after that take her. Drag her down to the Pit in my stead and give me form."

Damien, the Prince of Lies, cocked his head. "At last the truth is revealed. But tell me, Anthony, isn't there some Ancient something or other who might object to this little meeting?"

The smile on Druid's lips never wavered. "That old relic? You forget, I studied under him and I can assure you, that right now he's much to busy worrying about his precious 'Sorcerer Supreme' to pay any attention to us."

Damien laughed. Even to a spirit, Druid felt cold as he heard it. "Very well, I won't even try to point out the holes in your plan. In a few months time, I shall come back Anthony, and in exchange for the mystical protector of Earth, I shall restore you to life. Fair enough?"

"With you things are never fair Hellstorm." Druid drifted back into the house. "But I shall honor our pact." As the Lord of Hell vanished, Druid turned his attention back to the still form of Deborah. "I'm sorry about this, I really am." He spoke more to himself than to the prone girl. "The Ancient One used me before, and now he can't or won't help me. You'll do much good in this world, if that is any consolation."

Moving her prone form deeper into the house, Druid released her from the spell. She blinked her eyes as she came to. "What happened? I feel…strange."

Druid flinched at her words. "Nothing happened. You came back from your third assignment, which was a success I should add, and now we have finished training for the night."

"Oh. Good then." She stretched out and absently rubbed her head. "Master, I have been feeling odd lately. Like I'm forgetting something."

Had Druid been composed of flesh, he might have broken out into a cold sweat. "Stress more than likely. Sleep now, and we shall continue your studies tomorrow."

As Deborah nodded and walked down the hall, Druid floated around the room. Had he legs, he would have worn a hole in the rug from his pacing. "I know I'm succeeding, or else the Ancient One would have checked up on me by now." Stopping in place, Druid projected himself across the country to a small apartment somewhere in California. "Already, things are in motion."

Before his ghostly visage laid a man with white streaked temples asleep at a table crowded with blueprints and notes. "Perhaps what that girl did tonight put this in motion, and perhaps not." Returning back to the hidden house, Druid assumed a more solid form. "Those four fools are what will usher this world into a new age. Perhaps the mantle of Droom was nothing more than a catalyst to inspire. Regardless of that, with that out of the way there will be no one looking over my shoulder for the next few months. I can accomplish the prescribed tasks without any interference."

Gazing out the window towards the moon, Druid smiled grimly. "And I shall walk again among mankind. In the strange new world, Anthony Druid shall walk and bow to no man!" Looking down the hall towards the room where the unsuspecting Deborah Whitman slept, Druid shook his head. "No, as much as I loathe her fate, the role of Droom is nothing than an curtain opener. Unfit for anyone with vision, and thus perfect for that girl. With her memories removed, she shall complete her tasks without hesitation, becoming more powerful and all the more susceptible to the same temptation that I faced. That liar Hellstorm plots to have us both, but he shall just have to make do with one."

D

Deborah tossed and turned in her bed. "Why am I so uneasy? Master" She stopped as she sat up. Why was he 'Master'? The title just seemed right, and he hadn't corrected her, but for some reason she felt something. Anger perhaps, but anger at what? Her whole life had been spent for this duty. Then why did she have such images? She recalled boys she liked and girls she didn't; kindly words and warn food. If she had all of this and more, then why couldn't she recall any of it? She thought about rousing the Master, but an inner voice told her not to.

"I know I am doing a great duty for the sake of humanity, but why is there is this nagging feeling that something is missing?" She returned to bed and tried to sleep. "Everything is going according to plan. Why am I worrying? Perhaps I'll just wait until the next mission before I approach Master with my silly concerns."

The end

Amazing Adventures

Well, things took a turn for the dark, didn't they? Tune in next time to see Druid and Hellstorm's plan unfold! Will Droom be able to stop them? Check out What Lurks Within?

This is loosely based on "Doctor Droom Meets Zemu" which was first printed in Amazing Adventures #3 (August 1961). The reprint, "Behold the Power of Zamu!" was published in Weird Wonder Tales #7 (January 1977) also inspired this tale. Credits listed are Jack Kirby (pencils) and Dick Ayers (inks). All rights reserved.

And as always, here's Tiff with fan mail

_Great job. Anyone who's a fan of the old school stories (actually,  
anyone who's a fan of good writing) should definitely read your  
work.  
Thanks for sharing_.

Hey, thanks for reading. Darci, the job is yours if you still want it.

Until then, take care readers. The world can be harsh and uncaring, but that doesn't mean we all can't have a good scare or laugh every now and then. I admit Dr. Druid does seem like a right royal jerk, doesn't he? I admit, this series may change more dramatically than I thought it would, but there will be some…well something to write home about if nothing else. So remember to Face Front True Believers and send your dimes to the Merry Marvel Marching Society and not the Distinguished Competition, ok?

Upcoming works

Journey Into Mystery #8-Lady Thor tackles the Carbon-Copy Man!

Sensational Comics #7-Hulk VS the FF!

Tales to Astonish #4-The Wasp Fails!


	4. What Lurks Within?

Droom

A Marvelous Tale Told in the Mighty Marvel Manner!

What Lurks Within!

Deep within the heart of America's Midwest, things went about with little fanfare. Chores were carried out, animals cared for, and people both ended and started shifts as the sun slowly rose. Within the cornfield of Ira Wells, however, things were not progressing in their usual manner.

It had begun as a small orange speck in the sky. Ira paid it no mind as he went about his early morning chores, but when one of his farmhands began to scream at him from across the field, Ira finally looked up. He wished he hadn't as he took in the site before him.

It was shaped like a large egg. The bottom half was utterly flat however, and a long spike jutted out below it. It hovered in place as it slowly lowered itself into the middle of his cornfield. Ira staggered back at the heat the alien machine gave off, but he waved away his assembling farmhands. "Call the sheriff!" He ordered as he ran into his meager house and quickly loaded his father's double barrel shotgun. He knew the odds of such a weapon being any use at all against such creatures were slim, but he had faced down enough banks and land developers not to lose his nerve at the first sight of a something odd.

D

Deborah chewed her lip. The doubts she had been feeling were rising as she floated above the floor. "Master is hiding something from me, but what? I dare not ask, not while my power is so low."

The spirit of Druid had instructed her to meditate ("you must increase your mind and make it in touch with the universe"), but so far she had done nothing but ponder about the ever-increasing gaps in her memory.

"Hmm, perhaps my student is falling back into his old tricks?" A strange voice spoke.

"Who's there?" She suddenly jumped down and readied a spell as a ghostly form appeared before her. "Reveal yourself!"

"I am very old, and quite unaccustomed to having demands made of me." The old man spoke. "But I shall indulge you. I am your master's master. I am known on this plane as The Ancient One."

"The Ancient One? I've heard of you, but I thought I was too take instruction from Master Druid only?"

The Ancient One stroked his long white beard. "Indeed? And what of Hellstorm? Is he a master as well?" Deborah blanched at his words, but the old man raised his hand. "Hold, Druid knows of this too. I fear my attempts to put Anthony on the path of redemption may have been a bit premature."

"Am I in danger?"

"Possibly. Not all futures are open to me, but with the added presence of Hellstorm, I fear Anthony is slipping back into old habits." The Ancient One's form began to fade. "Have no fear. Your mission is a just one, but Anthony made try to corrupt you for his own ends. Be on guard and be wary at all times." Before his form faded from sight, Deborah heard he speak a few last words. "We shall meet again."

D

Deborah, her mind rattled enough to prevent any more meditation, left the room and appeared before the ghostly shade of Anthony Druid. "Ah you're finished. Good." His tone was formal, but she couldn't but hear a hint of surprise in his voice. "The stars have moved another piece into position."

Gesturing to a large map that appeared in thin air, he continued to talk. "In the Midwest, a space ship has appeared. Your mission then, is to put a stop to the invaders. This time, however, you are not allowed to use any magic once you arrive."

"What?" Deborah stared in utter amazement. "But I'm supposed to be the defender of the Earth, the mystical defender, right? So how can I not use magic?"

"Silence! This is to be a test of your wit and cunning. Only a fool relies on one method of attack. Now go and use only what you have available. I have spoken!" He faded from view much like the Ancient One.

She stood alone for a few seconds before throwing her hands up. "Very well, but he didn't say I was forbidden to use magic to get there." With closed eyes, she concentrated until she felt the disturbance. Weaving a proper transportation spell, the drab and gray walls around her dissolved as they were replaced with bright green and yellow fields.

"This must be the place." She thought as she spied the giant orange dome and the assembled crowd. Concentrating, her black robes shifted and reformed around her, taking on the appearance of a modest brown suit. Straightening her tie, she marched towards the group. "Ok, no magic, eh? Then lets try the direct approach."

"Alright everyone, just stay back." Sheriff Romero ordered the on lookers. Calls to higher authorities had gone unanswered, and calls to the National Guard only promised long waits. Cussing his deputies, he took off his straw hat and beat it against his leg as he tried to come up with a plan.

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance?" A strange voice spoke behind him.

Turning around, he felt his heart jump as he stared down into a ghastly pale face. Long stringy black hair spilled down over a brown suit jacket and two of the blackest eyes looked up at him with a strange look in them. "Who are you?" He stammered.

"Men call me Droom." She walked past him and stared at the spaceship. "And I think my skills could be used here." Ignoring his questions, she marched over to a group of construction workers and walked up to the foreman. "Are you men busy?"

The foreman took his hardhat off in her presence. "No ma'am. We're just doing some roadwork when we heard about the commotion."

"Good." She rubbed her chin as she looked back at the ship and him. "Tell me, would you happen to have a derrick on hand? I need the largest one you can find."

"A derrick? Well, yeah I think. There's a some stuff like that over near where the off-ramp's being built, why?"

"Because I have need of it." She glared at him. "The fate of this world rests in your hands, now can you aide me or not?"

"Um, alright. I'll run over and get it." The burly man quizzically scratched his head. The woman looked like she knew what she was doing, which was more than he could say about anyone else there. What harm could it do?

Moving through the crowd, Deborah felt the stares as she made her way to the ship. There was no heat from the ship now, but she could see the ground had been blasted by the landing. "Ok, what do I do know?" The ship was large, but that gave no indication of the crew, if in fact the ship even had a crew. "This could be fallen missile for I know." Gently putting her hand on the metal hull, she was surprised when she felt the metal vibrating under her fingertips. "Machinery? Then it is being controlled at least." The sound of construction equipment rumbling snapped her back to the present. The sight of the large derrick pulling slowly off the road brought a glimmer of hope, but the added site of the iron-battering ball hanging from it broke her worries.

Moving past the confused and gawking onlookers, Deborah hoped up onto the machine. "I'll take it from here." Slipping inside the cab, she drove the derrick towards the hull. Leaning out of the window, she called towards the sheriff. "Remain hidden! I am going to attempt to make contact with the aliens!"

"How's she going to manage that?" One of the deputies asked.

"Don't know, but I reckon she knows what she's doing." His fellow officer replied as people scattered for safety.

"Now to see if these visitors are friends or foes." Deborah began to pull levers. The derrick lurched to life as it swung back and forth, building momentum. As the crowd's confusion grew, their confusion changed to horror as the giant iron ball swung out and struck the ship several times. After the third time, several onlookers saw Deborah stumbled out of the cab, her nose bloody.

"What in tarnation are you doing?" Romero shouted.

"Saying hello." Deborah answered. "I would suggest we all clear out, as our guests are about to leave."

"Huh? How did you know that?" Before Romero could press, the ship began to shake as it slowly rose free from the ground and rocketed off towards the sky.

"Simple, I told them we come in peace and that we wanted to be friends. All they had to do was open the door and shake hands." Deborah replied.

"What? But I don't understand." The confusion was evident on his face. "When did you say that?"

"In a way, I didn't. Those creatures from space contacted me mentally. They wanted to know what was making the noise on the hull, and I told them I was simply knocking. I suspected they may not have been friendly, so I took the precaution of letting them think the derrick was myself."

"And they thought you were a giant! Hot dog, that was a good idea!" He laughed heartily. "Little lady, I like your style."

"Thank you. Once they suspected this planet was inhabited by creatures capable of creating so much force instead of mere beings of flesh and bone, they were overwhelmed and left."

Walking away from the cheering crowd, Deborah turned to look at the sheriff. "This was merely a test; a possible first of many. They were defeated with wits, but in the future we may not be allowed such luxuries as time. Remember to be wary, and that Droom is protecting you." She spoke as she suddenly vanished before the startled man's eyes.

H

Damien Hellstorm was not without a sense of humor. So it came when he spied the floating specter of Anthony Druid tugging at his non-corporal hair, he had to laugh. "Problems Anthony?"

"That fool is wrecking everything!" Druid cried as he raged around the room.

"Really? From the looks of it, she's following your steps almost exactly." Damien causally commented.

"Yes, and that's the problem! She's not changing history enough!" Druid solidified enough to manipulate the objects in the room. With a closed fist he smashed his fists against his desk and overturned it. "The name of Droom shall be forgotten, and I shall still be damned!"

"You were already damned the moment you allowed me to enter." Damien pointed out. "And really Anthony, aren't we forgetting someone? A certain old someone?"

"Bah, that fool knows nothing of what transpires here!" Druid snorted with contempt. "There is but one more task, one final mission, and then we shall both get what we want."

"Indeed." Damien vanished with a slight trace of brimstone, leaving Druid alone with his thoughts. Had he been aware of Damien's destination, he might not have been in such a pleasant mood.

Deep in the bowels of Hell, Damien's laughter grew as he witnessed a youth with flaming red hair get ready for school. "And thus it changes."

"Master?" One of the numerous demons that plagued the realm stepped forward with all the caution its inhuman heart could muster. "Why are you so pleased?"

"Oh, no reason imp." His chuckle grew. "Mere performing a slight, shall we say, edit upon some old memories." He dismissed the imp with a wave of his hand. "That fool Druid really does have no idea, and thus I win regardless. Druid's fate is sealed, and that boy will not have to suffer the pains of this blood."

D

Druid hovered in meditation. "Was it right?" He thought about his still living version that existed in this time. "He shall never know of the power, but he shall be safe, but what of me? I've already damned that young girl, but she doesn't know it yet." The familiar sense of Deborah materializing near the house snapped him out of his thoughts. "She's finished. With only one more task, it shall be done, and I shall live again, with my power and free from any more manipulations."

As Deborah entered the house, he appeared before her. "You failed in your task."

"What do you mean master? I vanquished the aliens and I used no magic." Deborah protested.

"Liar! You weaved several spells the moment you left! You were to use no magic at all!" Druid raged. "You have disobeyed me."

"No, I didn't." Deborah stared back at the specter. She didn't want to reveal her meeting with the Ancient One, but her suspicions were quickly being proven. "I used the power you gave me to do good in this world, why is that wrong?"

"Because it will leave me a formless ghost." Druid thought. "Because you must do exactly what I say in order to save the world, do you understand?"

"I suppose so." Deborah conceded as she walked towards her room. As she entered, she quickly locked the door and put up a protective barrier. "Alright, this confirms what the Ancient One was saying, but how does that man Damien factor into this? And how do I stop Druid?" The dull drab walls around her gave her no answers. A sudden drowsiness overtook her as she tried to focus. "What's going on?" She slurred as she tried to cast a defensive spell. Her eyelids drooped as she fell backwards.

Anthony entered the room as he finished putting the final touches on the spell. "When you awake, you'll have no memory of the Ancient One or Hellstorm." A mystical cocoon enveloped her as he spoke. "I am sorry to do this, I really am, but its better this way. I'll go on living." He closed his eyes as he imagined everything. "And the name Druid shall be linked with Heroes forever more! I know how everything ends, and I can prevent everything! No more civil wars, false houses, or terrible onslaughts! I will prevent everything and change anything!" His hands glowed green as the cocoon hardened around Deborah. "A vessel must be used, and that's where you come in my dear. The Age of Heroes shall evermore be known as the Age of Druid!"

The small house, tucked away from prying eyes, faintly glowed green against the darkened sky. The clouds above the house seemed to take shape briefly. If one had been passing by, one might suspect the clouds of forming an elderly human face and looking sternly down at the home, but the image vanished after an instant.

The end

Amazing Adventures

This particular tale is loosely based on "What Lurks Within?" which was first printed in Amazing Adventures #4 (September 1961) Credits listed are Jack Kirby (pencils) and Dick Ayers (inks). All rights reserved.

First the fan mail:

You did an excellent job as always, Cambot. Very nice work and an  
exciting story.  
Thanks for sharing

And thanks for reading Tiff.

Ok, now for the announcement:

Next issue sees Droom tackle her strangest foe yet-Spragg, the Living Hill! Be here for "Doom Under Our Feet!" The plots between Druid and Hellstorm are coming to an end; will Droom be able to survive?

Upcoming works:

Tales to Astonish #7-Slave of the Alien World!

Journey into Mystery #9-Sandu, Master of the Supernatural!

Sensational Comics #8-Versus Madame X!


	5. Doom Under Our Feet

Droom

A Marvelous Tale Told in the Mighty Marvel Manner!

Doom Under Our Feet!

High above the Earth, in orbit around the blue-green ball called home by so many, floated a strange creature. At a glance, one might suspect the debris as being little more than floating space rock, common enough stuff to find its way around a planet. A closer look, however, would reveal that the rock possessed two eyes and a mouth.

The creature, strangely enough, was not an alien, but literally from the Earth. Spragg, as it chosen to call itself, was present when the very Earth itself was formed. Living under the ground for countless eons, it had (along with its fellow creatures) developed acute mental powers. When an earthquake forced it up to the surface, it took its predicament as nothing less than fate itself and set about plans to conquer the surface world.

It managed to enslave several villages with ease until a lone scientist stumbled upon its plans. With a plan so cunning even Spragg had to admire it, its plan was squashed and it was blasted into the cold unforgiving reaches of outer space, where it was hoped that it would stay forever and never trouble humanity again. As the rock drifted closer to Earth, gravity took hold and Spragg found itself being pulled towards the Earth's surface. If it was capable of laughter, or even know of the concept and not stuck in a vacuum, the heavens would have been booming with the sound.

D

Deborah looked at the house that she had called home. She could recall no other, which disturbed her greatly. She agreed with the Ancient One, and she saw firsthand that her powers were needed, but she simply could not trust Druid any more. A distant point in the sky flashed, and she felt a sudden wave of revelation. "There…is a threat."

Turning around, she gestured and chanted the spells as she brought up the asteroid and its final destination. "Whatever this is, it means trouble for all mankind. I must stop it." Sparing one final look behind her, she summoned a teleportation spell and vanished in a swirl of light.

D

Druid sensed a great disturbance. "Deborah?" He called out, but heard no response. "Your master calls!" Again nothing. A sudden fear griped him. Meekly calling out, he found only the empty house. "She's gone." If his knees had been corporal, he would have dropped to them. "She's gone!"

D

Droom appeared before a vast smoking crater in the middle of the Alaskan wild. A simple spell warmed her, enabling her to focus on more important matters. "What could have caused this?"

The crater was massive. Looking at the ground and tracing the radiation still present, she couldn't understand what she was looking at. "Something fell, but there's no trace of anything. Nothing walked or drove away, so what landed here?"

In response, the ground beneath her feet began to rumble. Surprised, she tumbled over the side and rolled down into the hole as the ground split open. Rolling to her feet, she readied herself for an attack, but when she saw the cause, she stopped and stared.

The ground above the ridge grew up. It was like watching a volcano being born, but only in fast motion. As the cone pierced the heavens, she saw three indents shifting and moving independently. Her question was answered as the dents open to reveal two eyes and a mouth.

"Spragg has returned!" It bellowed across the empty icy waste. "Let all who live above tremble!"

"Who are you?" Droom strode up the monster's mouth and boldly addressed it. Inwardly, she was terrified. "This is my job. I have to do this." She asked again, her voice amplified magically. Spragg's eyes rolled down and it looked at her.

"Who dares to speak to Spragg the Living Hill is such a manner?" It voice echoed in her mind as it mentally shouted at her.

"Droom, protector of this world and its' peoples. Stake your business."

"My business? Conquer!" The tips of Spragg's cavernous mouth jerked upwards as two giant hands burst out of the ground and enveloped her. "You pathetic humans shall be ground to a meaty pulp under…eh?"

Where as Spragg was expecting its hands to wrap around the frail form and crush Droom's body into paste, it was surprised when it felt resistance. Exerting more pressure, Spragg felt its hands break apart as Droom rocketed out. Encased in a protective bubble Droom flew closer towards Spragg's face. "That was your one shot. Now leave this planet or I shall use force." Droom's mental commands were simple and to the point. Her confidence growing, she floated back with her arms crossed and awaited the creature's response.

She didn't wait long, as Spragg, its energies focused, rose higher and higher as it absorbed more of the soil. As its body pierced the heavens, it suddenly lurched forward. Droom realized what it was planning. "Oh no." She strengthened her bubble as the giant form crashed down. Washing over her like a tidal wave made of frozen dirt, Spragg laughed mentally as it quickly reformed.

"Pathetic human! What manner of power do you have that made you think you could withstand the sheer might of a god?"

"This." From within Spragg's giant form, crushed on all sides from the sheer amount of mass surrounding her, Droom rocketed out of Spragg's back and hovered above its head. Feeling the creature inside her mind, Deborah saw its history and how it came to be defeated the first time. "Iron, eh? That might prove tricky."

From her lessons with Druid, she knew pure iron could have a detrimental effect on her magic, but the creature's mental powers could only be weakened by it. She knew she had to tackle this creature alone, as its powers could easily enslave anyone who came too close.

Levitating away, she ignored Spragg's mental mockery. "Yes, flee you annoying insect! When I have conquered this land, your bones shall become part of me!"

"What a charming image." Flying as fast as she could, she entered Canada and slowed down. "Now, how do I go about defeating a giant mountain that can control minds?" Manipulating raw iron could be difficult, but not impossible. "Should I alert Druid?" She wasn't even calling him master anymore. "No. I must solve this on my own."

D

Druid was in despair. "How, how could she leave?"

"Problems Anthony?" The sniggering voice of Damien Hellstorm made him blanch.

"No, no problems at all Damien." Druid coolly waved him away. "My erstwhile apprentice will be ready in time. My commands have been imprinted within her mind, and I assure you, she will make an excellent replacement."

"Really? Because you sound unsure Anthony, like you don't know where she is. You know how I like to keep tabs on my investments."

"She'll be ready at the appointed time and not before."

D

Droom hovered over the mine. Ignoring the calls of the puzzled miners, she focused her efforts on the raw iron ore that had already been mined and loaded into a series of trucks. "Forgive me, but I need to borrow these. I shall return them promptly." She knew if she handled the ore itself it would cancel out her power, but if she were to handle something it was connected to…

"By the hands of Osthur and the wind of the Vishanti, lift these wagons up!" She commanded as the trucks were all lifted high into the air. "Fear not, they shall be returned unharmed!" She concentrated as she flew back towards Spragg. She wished she were as confident as she sounded.

She found the monster within minutes. Already its form was growing larger and devouring more of the countryside. "Halt!"

Spragg's eyes rolled in her direction. "Again? You humans are more annoying than lose soil!" Towering over her and growing ever higher, Spragg looked down at her. "What makes you think our battle will end any different than last time?"

She could feel it trying to enter her mind. Blocking it with all of her might, she felt her head throb as she willed the trucks to encircle it. She knew of its weakness, but it didn't know she knew, and she liked to keep it like that.

Spragg was not a fool, however, and as it saw the trucks circling around its massive body, it sent out dozens of hands to reach out crush the trucks. Laughing cruelly, It sucked the pulped remains inside itself as it surged forward. "You think to stop me with iron?" It's nearly mile long mouth split open in a terrible grin. "How can you stop when your precious metal is crushed?"

Although it could not actually see it, Droom was smiling. "Thank you, you saved me a great deal of effort." Holding her hands up, Droom mentally reached out and took possession of each truck. With the added material acting as a buffer, she had no problem driving the iron deep into Spragg's body. Such a movement was not wasted on the monster.

"Eh? What are you doing?"

From the creature's own mind, Droom knew how it had been defeated before. She also knew a little of the monster's body, in that it's brain was located at the very top. Landing softly some feet away, Droom concentrated on the trucks as they shifted around inside the dirt and soil.

Realization dawned on Spragg as it started to focus all of its attention on her. "You fleshly insect! I'll crush you to pieces!"

"No, I think not." Droom easily dodged the boulders Spragg coughed at her as she sent the trucks, and their precious cargo, racing through Spragg's body until they neared the summit. Using all of her mystical might, she flattened the trucks and spread the ore around, creating a makeshift platform inside of Spragg's head.

Turning its attention to itself, Spragg tried to claw away at the metal inside as the platform exploded upward, taking Spragg's head and brain along with it. "No! You can't do this to me!" Spragg's mental wailing made her head throb in agony as the trucks raced ever higher. " I shall return, it may take years or centuries, but I shall return! And when I do, all that you know will be ground into the dirt!"

Whatever threats Spragg could have further made were lost as it climbed higher and higher, until it finally vanished from sight. Without Spragg to control the earth around her, the giant mound of dirt sagged and finally collapsed. Droom managed to dig herself out of the soil before collapsing. "I did it!"

Then, her hard-earned victory behind her, Droom accepted the hero's reward: she passed out. As she lay unconscious on the ground, she was unaware of the smell of brimstone and sulfur, nor of the presence of the familiar sight of Damien Hellstorm. The prince of Hell gave a low of whistle of appreciation as he took in the sights.

"Most impressive. Not bad for mere slip of a girl." Gently picking her up, he opened up another portal. "I think a ride home is the least I can do for you." With the portal closed, there was no left to ever note what had happened there. There would be questions and forms filled out (mainly for the missing trucks), but none of that was a concern to Droom at the moment.

D

Druid floated nervously over the floor as the slumbering form of Deborah was dropped none too gently onto the floor. "Careful you fool! If she were to wake" Druid's threats were silenced with one glare from Damien.

"And need I remind you that you are in no position to make demands of me Anthony? She is asleep, and shall be for some time." Turning his attention to the slumbering form of Droom, he chuckled. "Amazing. She defeated a monster by herself. You never could manage that, could you Anthony?"

Druid failed to rise to the bait. "Well, this world moves on a slightly different time scale. Of course things are going to be different." Floating over to her, he enveloped her head with his intangible fingers. "A quick spell and she'll…" he stopped as he found his fingers physically pushed aside by unseen hands. "Impossible!"

"What?" Damien seemed more puzzled than anything else.

"There's…there is something there! Something is blocking me!"

"Do tell." Damien picked up his discarded trident and careful opened a vortex on the porch.

"Wait, Hellstorm, where are you going?"

"I don't recall having to give you any explanations." With that he entered the gateway.

"I don't understand, what went wrong?"

"You did." The voice of Deborah shocked him, but the sight of her open eyes terrified him.

"How did you resist my power?" Druid found himself backing up against the wall.

"I had help, 'master'" Her tone was cool, but he could see the rage in her eyes. "All of this was a lie, wasn't it?"

"No! Not at the beginning!" Druid held up his hands as he begged. "The moniker you were shall change, your contributions shall be forgotten, erased!"

"So you made a deal with the darkness to save yourself and use me as bait, correct?"

"No, that's not it at all!" Druid, despite his non-physical form, felt cold. "The plan was to use Hellstorm, to trick the trickster into giving me life! All that power would be yours!"

Droom, for that title seemed the most appropriate, glowered at him with her deep black eyes. "Your lies are shameful. I was picked to be little more than sacrifice, correct? That's why you removed my memories."

Druid broke down. "Yes, yes! That's it, but I was weak! So weak" he hung his head down to the floor. "I was tired of being a servant to others. Even the Ancient One refused to grant me peace."

"Liar!" Droom's voice roared within the confines of the small room and sent Druid flying back. "You were given a second chance, and you threw it away!"

Druid flinched and waited for the next assault, but it never came. Droom blew the door off of its frame and stepped outside. "From where I walk now, I walk alone." She levitated away into the night as Druid looked on. She couldn't see it, but he was smiling.

"Only further into our web my dear."

The end

Wow, cliffhanger's eh? Well, this particular tale is original. Next issue will be the last one with Droom for a while and then, who knows? Be sure to be here next time for "Meet Krogg!" He'll be rather offended if you don't.

On the way out, be sure to look for the following, coming soon to a monitor near you.

Journey Into Mystery#10- The Day the Thunder was Stolen!

Sensational Comics#9- In the Hands of a Madman!

Tales to Astonish#8- The Voice of Doom!


	6. Droom Meets Krogg!

Droom

A Marvelous Tale Told in the mighty Marvel Manner!

Droom Meets Krogg

Anthony Druid, if he were alive, would have been sweating. Before him was a large crystal, and inside was the still form of Deborah Whitman, better known as Droom. "Damien, the prize is ready!"

Damien Hellstorm, one of the many rulers of Hell, appeared in a flash of brimstone. "Anthony." His smile unnerved the ghost. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Druid shook his head. "She's ready now!" He insisted as he looked around, as if the very walls might come alive. "I can't stall that blasted old fool any longer!"

"But it is not yet the proper time. She has one more test, then she'll have copied your actions, more or less, enough." Damien's smile grew. "She's not ripe enough. One more mission, then I'll collect her."

Druid silently swore as Damien left. Turning his gaze on the crystal, he shook his head. "No, don't look at me like that! I'm weak, so weak." Clutching his translucent hand, he thought about hitting the green crystal before him but thought better of it. "Don't you see? If you take my place I can live and be free of all of this madness." Floating away, he muttered to himself. "Be free, be free…"

D

Deborah woke with a start. Sitting up in her bed, in her room, she first thought she was having an intense dream, but her father's voice from the other side of the door said otherwise. "Young lady, if you don't get out of bed this instant!"

"Coming daddy!" Deborah got out of bed and looked herself over. Her hair was still black and her skin pale white. Her robes were neatly hung over the back of a chair. "Then why don't I remember putting them there?" Slipping the robe on, she gingerly opened the door and stepped out into the hall.

Below was her father, a frying pan in his hand. "Come on kiddo, you're going to miss your big day!"

"Sure, sorry daddy. Just let me get ready."

"Breakfast is on the table."

She nodded silently before entering the bathroom. What was going on? She last recalled walking away from Druid, but that was it. Try as she might, she couldn't remember a single detail afterwards. She knew she hadn't been home, so why was her father acting so calm?

"Because as far as he knows, you never left. Your appearance to him has been unchanged."

"What?" In the mirror was the visage of the Ancient One. "What do you mean?"

The Ancient One shook his head. "As far as your friends and family are aware, you never left. A simple act of hypnotism committed by Druid."

Deborah was silent for a moment. Could the Ancient One have prevented this? Rather than asking him, she calmed herself and took a different approach. "Tell me then, what am I to do? Was I ever really a hero?"

The old man sighed. "Yes, yes you were. You saved this planet, but Druid is going to use your accomplishments against you." The room grew colder. "I tried to give Anthony the redemption he craved, but his baser nature won out, and I fear you were little more than a pawn to him."

"Can I stop him? Or you?"

"I can do little directly. My strength is not what is once was. No, I fear the final, battle must be conducted by you and you alone."

"But what can I do?" Her frustration was boiling over.

"Take heart, Anthony has trained you after all, only now you must use his tools against him." His visage started to fade. "There will be one more test, and then the final battle shall begin."

Deborah shook her head as she hurried downstairs towards breakfast. Entering the kitchen, she felt a sudden tightness in her chest as she saw her father fixing the food. Without thinking, she threw her arms around him and hugged him. "Hey kiddo, what's that for?"

"I, I just wanted to, that's all." Deborah saw no confusion in his eyes. "Is he still hypnotized?" She thought better than to ask. Sitting down, she tried to readjust as her father turned on the radio. The announcer's shrill voice broke through the static.

"This just in, a madman calling himself 'Mr. Smith' has claimed to have perfected an antigravity ray, and unless his demands are met, then he will launch every city on Earth into outer space!"

Her father flicked the radio off. "I swear, Halloween is over, you'd think they'd get tired of those joke reports."

"I'm sure." Deborah wolfed down her food and stood up. Kissing her father on the forehead, she snagged her books and darted out the door. "I'll see you later!"

Elsewhere

Standing before the horrified witnesses was a man. His stature was small, his hair thinning. He ran his fingers through his neatly trimmed goatee. The sunlight reflected off of his thick glasses as he hefted a strange weapon at the throng of people. Above his head was a house.

The house itself had been scheduled for demolition and had been rightly regarded as an eyesore in the town for several years. At that moment, however, it was suspended dozen of feet into the air. The man cleared his throat.

"Attention! You saw what I did, and you know what I'm capable of!" Several reporters leaned in close as they pointed their microphones at him. "Give me one million dollars in gold, or this shall befall all of your state capitals!" Turning his back to the crowd, he pointed the gun at the house and gently squeezed the trigger. A violet flash of light struck the floating structure. The crowd gasped as the house started to move higher and higher into the sky, gaining speed at an incredible rate. Terrified onlookers dodged falling bits of debris as the man turned back towards them.

"I want the gold, delivered to this very spot, by no later than five p.m. tomorrow. Ignore me at your peril!" The man walked unmolested through the crowd.

One of the reporters turned to a colleague. "Wow, who was that guy Clark?"

"I don't know. He just said his name was Mr. Smith before calling everyone."

D

Druid watched the unfolding events with equal part hope and terror. "This is it, the final test."

"Yes, after which you fell into obscurity. Will she do the same?" Damien questioned as he stretched out his legs.

"Irrelevant; after this she will have copied enough of my past deeds to earn the mantle of protector. Then you take her in my place and give me life."

"Of course Anthony, of course. I would never forget the deal, but thanks all the same for reminding me." Standing up, the ruler of Hell threw on his coat and made his way towards the door. "I'll leave you to the job at hand. Summon me the second she completes the task."

S

Mr. Smith, as he was called, entered the small apartment with no fanfare. No one had paid him any mind as he walked through the lobby, despite his face and description being discussed at length on both the television and radio. Gently placing the gun on the warped nightstand, he slipped off his white trench coat and neatly hung it up. "Now all I have to do is wait." Picking up an ashtray, he slid off the bottom, revealing a complicated device nestled within the metal. "And now for some uninterrupted dining." Flipping a tiny switch, he sat down at a small table and started to lay out several small tins and a glass of dark liquid.

D

Deborah appeared in the alleyway next to a cheap hotel. "So, this is where the Ancient One sensed where Smith was hiding." Closing her eyes, she concentrated. The illusion of her former appearance slipped away. The now dark haired, pale skinned woman stepped out of the shadows and silently slipped in through the kitchen. "I'd rather keep the disguise up, but I can't afford to waste any of my concentration on maintaining a disguise."

Darting up the stairs, Deborah silently walked down the poorly lit hallway until she suddenly felt a strange tingle in the air. "Wait, I should focus on my surroundings, like I was taught." Closing her eyes, she reached out with her mind. Her third eye opened, she saw a crisscross of odd lights surging throughout the air. "Some form of defense. Not magical, but science? Its like nothing I have ever seen before."

Figuring that who or whatever set this trap up would know if it were tampered with, Deborah focused her full mental powers upon herself. Turning herself intangible, she easily walked through the beams until she came to their source. Standing before the door, she made herself solid. Using the Sight of the Blind Eye, she saw past the door. Inside the frame was a complicated machine. "Some kind of generator no doubt. Very well, I can not go in, I shall make my prey come to me."

S

Smith was eating a black paste from the tin when he heard some clear their throat. Leaping to his feet, he reached out and grabbed the gun. Throwing himself with his back to the wall, he scanned the room. "Who's there?"

"Someone you wanted to see. Open the door and let my partner inside and we can discuss the details of your payment."

Smith carefully edged himself towards the door. Flipping the light switch, he threw open the door. "Who are you?" He kept his back to the wall and gazed around the apartment with one wary eye. "How did you get someone in here?"

Deborah stepped through the doorway. "In due time. Tell me, how did you manage those amazing feats?"

Smith, his gun still trained on her, walked towards the table. "Science my dear, now, about the gold?"

"In due time." Concentrating, she slowly worked her way past the man's glasses and peered into his mind. Feeling the resistance, she gasped at what she saw.

Smith blinked and rubbed his forehead. "Hypnotism, eh? I hadn't expected that on this world, but then again I do plan for all contingencies."

Stepping back, Deborah banished the strange thoughts from her mind. "So that's how you did it, you're from outer space!"

"Indeed, and while your trick to gain admittance was amusing, I should warn you it won't work a second time." Flipping the glasses off, Deborah saw two solid black irises staring back at her. "Since there is no need to stand on ceremony…" With one hand he reached up and gripped the top of his head. Tugging, he pulled the flesh off, revealing a slightly misshapen head. His flesh was green and fairly scaly. The forehead was deeply lined, with his black eyes staring out from under two thick eyebrows. "And since I was kind enough to divulge my identity, would you not do the same?"

Deborah, her eyes never leaving the gun, spoke softly. "Mortals call me Droom. I am the protector of this world and all who dwell within it."

"Really?" The alien that was Smith seemed more amused than anything else. "My records showed no such person of that name, but I suppose I overlooked you. Since we are on a single name basis, you may call me Krogg."

"Very well Krogg, what is your purpose on Earth?"

Krogg blinked. "Why, to rule it, what else? My dear, you have no idea how lucky your little world is; prime location, no real threats for light years."

"Location? What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? I mean that as far as teaming galactic empires go no one would bother sending a warship or anything else here. It is, as you locals say, in the dead center of nowhere. A man could retire in luxury here, if he was willing to work."

"So you just come here and invade with your weapons and expect no resistance?" Droom's voice was deep and commanding as she clutched her fists.

"Of course not. This," he gestured with the gun, "is little more than a child's toy I adjusted. Although I can assure you, if I did bring any real weapons here I would have destroyed your entire way of life in one of your seconds. No, I limited myself to toys and antiques; no one bothers to inspect your cargo if all you are carrying is a shipment of toys." He took a seat and gestured for Droom to do the same. "As I was saying, I would have gotten the gold first, and from there I have used that capital to bribe Earthmen to work for me…to help plunder your planet."

"Setting yourself up as warlord then?"

"Yes. Of course, your presence here complicates matters. My research showed that while this world has an overabundance of so-called "superheroes", most of them were of the simple mortals in masks variety. Your powers were unexpected, and as such I see no point in continuing this venture."

Tracing a sigil under her sleeve, Droom readied for an attack. "Then what are your plans now?"

Krogg sat contemplating. "Well, my intentions right now are to blast this dwelling with my matter transmitter and erase all signs of my presence. After that, I will leave this world and wait. My people are a long-lived race. I can wait it out, and when I come back, perhaps there will be lull."

D

Druid watched with rapt attention. "Yes, stand by! Let him leave, and everything will have been completed!"

D

Droom held up her hands. "Wait, you possess such great technology, why don't you stay?"

Krogg's eyebrows both shot up in surprise. "Stay? And what, be killed or caught in endless battle?"

"No, I mean stay. With your science, you could easily make a fortune here. Why use crime when you can gain everything peacefully?"

D

"No! No! What are you doing?"

D

Krogg lowered the gun. "You know, I hadn't really thought about that." Looking at Droom, he rubbed his chin. "Although that does make some degree of sense. There would, of course, be some questions about my background, but there are ways enough to bypass that. Yes, that is a thought."

D

Druid, were he still alive, would have been sweating. "What am I going to do?"

Damien casually looked over his shoulder. "I'm not sure. What happened on your between you and Krogg?"

"Hmm? Nothing actually. I showed up and he left. He swore vengeance, but he never followed up on it and I never saw him again."

"Well, now that could be bad. After all, if she changes things too much, then she won't be much of a replacement for you, correct?"

Druid stood up. "I'll stop her. I'll change it, no, I'll get rid of that alien, then I'll just bring her directly here." He was gone in an instant.

Damien smirked as he watched the unfolding drama. "Ah Anthony, I am truly going to miss you." With a wave of his hand, the image changed to a red haired youth who bore a strong resemblance to the Lord of Hell. "If this works..."

D

As Krogg and Droom were talking, a sudden guest of wind blew in and startled the alien. "What is that?"

Druid appeared before the duo. "Krogg, you shall leave this world and never return." Turning to Droom, he gestured wildly. "And you! Come back with me this instant!"

"No." Blocking the spell, Droom rose to her feet. Holding her hands out, she focused and called upon her own power. "No more will I listen to your lies!"

Druid's face was a mask of fury. "You listen to me! I've gone through Hades itself for this moment, and I won't have anyone, especially some snot nosed waif, costing me my chance at power!" Chanting, he summoned up a variety of horrific creatures.

K

Krogg, meanwhile, quietly slipped away. Pressing his belt buckle, he, along with most of the apartment's trappings, vanished in a blink. "Perhaps that young female was correct. This planet is far too wild for conquest. Perhaps I will simply monitor it for a while."

D

"I thought the Ancient One limited your powers?" Droom stepped back. Casting shields, she weathered the assault as smoky tentacles thrashed against the barrier.

Druid sneered. "Bah! That old fool was merely holding me back! I found power from a different source!"

The stench of sulfur filled the room. Behind Druid appeared a familiar sight to Droom. The same stranger that aided her in her undersea battle stepped into the room. He did not look pleased. "Anthony, I do believe you have overstepped your bounds."

Druid snarled as he faced the stranger. "No Damien, it is you! Look, I have the girl, take her and free me!"

Damien thoughtfully rubbed his chin before answering. "No."

The life ran from Druid's cheeks. "What, what do you mean no?"

"No, I don't think I'll be taking Ms. Whitman's soul or body with me." With a wave of his hand, the shadowy horrors vanished. Ignoring Druid, he walked over to the confused Droom. "I did aide you once before, and I swore that next time the price would be high." His face was solemn. Droom lowered her shield. She felt the power resonating within him and knew any attacks would be futile. He stretched out his hands. "My price is this."

For scant seconds he was silent. Druid wrung his ghostly fingers as Droom stoically waited. "My price, Deborah Whitman, is that you not interfere with me."

Droom and Druid were taken aback. "What?"

Turning to Druid, Damien's grin grew wider. "What, you really thought I just let you escape? That you would get a second chance on Earth, no fuss, and still be allowed to enter into a contract with me?"

Druid tried to protest. "Yes! I escaped, but, but you tricked me!"

"Oh Anthony, that is what I have always enjoyed about you." Damien chuckled. "Always someone else's fault, and never yours. A pure soul is worthless in Hell old boy, you know that, a soul that escapes and attempts to create more mischief? Nearly priceless."

"Wait, so all this time, this power, was just an act? Something to trick a dead man?" Droom spat.

"Hmm? I wouldn't have put it quite like that, but yes. Don't worry, the power should vanish and go to someone else-" Damien never finished his sentence, as a powerful spell knocked him off his feet and sent him through the ancient drywall.

"You used me!" Droom called upon all that Druid taught her as the Lord of Hell staggered back into the room. Summoning nature spells, the wood of the floor and the mold in the ceiling broke free and enveloped him in a cocoon. The spells suddenly grew stronger as Druid joined in.

"I'm sorry." Druid couldn't quite look her in the eyes. "I've said that too many times, but I mean it. I've been blinded by power and manipulated far too many times." Pouring his very essence into the spell, Druid started to lose shape. "Forgive me Deborah, I never meant to drag you into this mess." His form, now almost totally incorporeal, faded from sight.

As Druid faded from sight, Damien easily broke free of his shell. Hellfire licked the peeling wallpaper as he loomed over her. Droom gritted her teeth and prepared another spell. She swore that she would make his victory a costly one.

Then, as Damien stood ready for an attack, he suddenly stopped. Flashing a grin, he stepped back. "I think we've danced enough for this evening." With a blinding flash, he was gone, leaving Droom alone in the ruined apartment.

"Eh?"

D

Leaving before any curiosity seekers showed up, Deborah was stopped by the floating visage of the Ancient One. "Droom, come to me."

Ducking into a nearby doorway, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Feeling her astral self leave, she floated high above the crowd to meet the old man. "Ancient One, what has happened?"

The Ancient One looked almost as puzzled as her. "That I am not entirely sure. I was aware of Anthony's plans, but I tired to steer him towards nobler ends. In that regard, I have failed both him and you. I can't find him, as his spirit has been so dissipated that he has been almost completely erased from this dimension, or at least so spread out as to have filtered into another reality, but the man you encountered, did he smell of sulfur?"

"Yes."

The Ancient One sighed. "That was Damien Hellstorm, or at least a version of him. Anthony was in his realm, but even I am not privy to what his mind holds."

Droom was quickly loosing her patience. "So this whole time, months of my life wasted, was for nothing?"

"I didn't say that. No doubt Damien Hellstorm manipulated the pieces and achieved his goals. I thought that by training you, Anthony could have prevented it. He failed at that, but I am unsure of what Damien's goals were. As for your training, you still posses the powers of Droom, and as such you are the Protector of Earth. You were drawn into this world against your will, so I would understand if you wished to relinquish your power."

Droom was silent for a moment. True, she could go back to her life, but what about all she had seen? "Tell me, this world, it is going to change, isn't it?"

"Indeed. A new age is upon the world, a world of new gods and monsters. Your light may not be the brightest, but it will shine all the same."

Droom nodded her head. "True. Very well, I will accept these powers, but only with one condition."

"That is?"

"I can still remain as I once was, with no deception or lies, yet at the same time continue as Droom."

The Ancient One was silent. "Hmm, you ask a dangerous price. It is possible, of course, but as long as there are human connections there might be ways for an enemy to manipulate them."

"That is a risk I am willing to take. If I am unable to protect my family, I can hardly protect the Earth, can I?"

"True. So be it." The Ancient One started to fade. "I will leave you know, but know that the entire Earth is your domain. Your powers shall continue to grow, but I shall not monitor you, for you have passed through your trials and emerged stronger. Goodbye Droom, and may the Vishanti watch over you always." His voice faded away, leaving her alone on the astral plane.

As she reentered her body, she stepped out of the alley and merged with the crowd. "Something still bothers me, what was Damien's plan, and how did I fit into all of this?"

H

In the bowels of Hell, Damien laughed. Before him was an image of a young man with flaming red hair walking towards a classroom. "A pity you will never know Ms. Whitman." Making the image vanish, Damien strolled out onto his balcony and gazed down at the sight of torment and suffering below him. "Everything is interconnected in some way, even here, but if one thing were to change, say the first mystic of a new era or the first hero, then the ripples could effect everything. Such as a young boy never coming into his birthright and staying pure, or perhaps coming into it later, when the time is ripe and the scales are more uneven."

"Darling, come back to bed." A sultry voice called from within the bedchamber.

Damien's smirk grew into a laugh. "A slight loss for me, but such confusion would be worth it. I wonder if my younger self will ever know?"

DH

Damien Hellstorm was a nice all-American kid, surname aside. As he walked into homeroom, however, he felt the strangest chill go up his spine, like someone was walking on his grave. He shrugged it off and sat down at his desk.

D

Droom was invisible. Being as she was outside of her body, that was not unusual, but she was not on the astral plane, but rather several miles in orbit, watching a space shuttle attempting reentry. The crew, three men and a woman, were trying to bring the ship in for a landing but the cosmic rays that surrounded the planet had interfered with the controls and sent the ship plummeting out of control.

Moving forward, and calling upon the sky itself to help, she eased the ship out of its tailspin and aimed it towards an isolated stretch of land on the west coast. "I wonder if our paths will ever truly cross?" Her mind wandered as she looked out over the Earth. "Until they do, this world shall never be without a protector. So swears Droom!"

The end

Amazing Answers

Well folks, it has been a heck of a ride. Big announcement, but first lets get to ye old credits.

This story was base on "Krogg!" which was first published in Amazing Adventures #6 (November 1961), with credits going to Stan Lee (story) and Paul Reinman (pencils/inks). All characters mentioned or alluded to are owned by Marvel Comics. All rights reserved.

And now for the sad news

This will be the final issue of Amazing Adventures. The whole prequel idea was perhaps not the best way to go, and the problems showed. Droom isn't gone forever though. Like all Marvel characters, she's just sleeping. Droom was live on, not in our hearts, but rather as a rotating backup feature in other publications. Amazing Adventures, however, will not. The show is over folks, best take what you can and leave the rest.

Now in the actual history, issue six really was the last shout for Amazing Adventures, as starting with issue seven the title was now called Amazing Adult Adventures…but I think that title might raise a few eyebrows. The next title change might be a touch more familiar, as after that it became Amazing Fantasy, future home to a certain wall-crawler.

Upcoming works:

Tales to Astonish #8-The Voice of Doom

Sensational Comics #10-The Celebrated Flying Toads of Outer Space!

Journey Into Mystery #11-Lady Thor VS the Radioactive Man!


End file.
